After Abimelech, the rule of the next two judges were relatively longer than him. Tola ruled for 23 years, and after Tola, Jair ruled for 22 years. Interestingly, these judges that led a longer period in comparison with Abimelech only took up two uneventful verses each. Abimelech only ruled for 3 years but had the entire chapter 9 or 56 verses dedicated to him. Here, more and exciting does not necessarily means good.

After Jair died and was buried in Kamon (v5), the people of Israel slumped back into sin. The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord (v6). The evil they did was to serve the other gods. Here seven ethnic and national gods were mentioned that Israel went after in idolatry. They served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines.

Israel was attracted to these other gods because each god was associated with some form of benefits. Baal was an agricultural god or also known as the weather god. Being in an agricultural society, worshipping Baal was important to make sure that they could prosper with their harvest. Ashtaroth was a goddess associated with love, sex and romance or fertility. Whether you could extend your generation line was dependant on her. We are not sure about the nature of the other gods of the neighbouring nations, but they probably offered some form of benefits to Israel. If not, Israel could be conforming to the popular culture and doing what everyone else did during their time.

I have repeatedly argued that though the Christians today may not be worshipping literal gods, but we often chase things with the same worshipful zeal. We worship God, but as soon as we realised that this God does not promised a perfect life because of our sinful nature, we turn to other things like wealth, fame, success, love and many other things. Let’s face it, the world often looks more alluring and exciting and it gives us immediate gratification. Just like a good smelling plate of char kway teow, our body are uncontrollably smitten by it and follow after it. On the contrary, our Christian faith may seem plain and uneventful.

You know, I have a growing appreciation of these uneventful days. Recently, in my conversations with some friends who are seeking for God, they shared their yearnings for days of peace in their household. They shared their own life stories of family violence and brokenness, and they treasure non troubling and uneventful days at home. I am saddened by these stories and at the same time reminded not to take these plain and common days in my life for granted. I give thanks for the ability to be embrace and enjoy His still small voice and to find strength and hope through the Holy Spirit daily. There is no fanfare, just your good old follow the Lord daily regime.

Just the other day in the morning, as I opened to Psalms 20, verse 7 moved me. It says,“some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”I was reminded by God that we rely on our own chariots and horses to solve our issues, but we as God’s people, we rely on His name. Soon after on the same day, I met with a matter that I did not know how to resolve. Immediately, this verse became a reminder. Trust God. I took comfort that day. I had strength that day. God met his child on that uneventful day.

Dear brothers and sisters, the Christian faith is really not that complicated. It is in essence a relationship with Yahweh God, where He leads those who trust and obey Him. It is a journey where we fix our eyes on Him, abide by the Godly principles He gave to us through His Word. As a result, He aligns our daily path to his desires. As we do that more, our faith muscles increase. When important milestones/challenges comes in our lives, we will have the godly capacity to respond in faith to them. To the bystanders, this milestone faith steps will seem like mighty faith action, but to the one who has been faithful, this is not as unattainable as others would imagine.

Dear brothers and sisters, do not underestimate the daily faith practices of the presence of God. Walk with God faithfully, spend time with Him faithfully, indulge in time of prayerful reflections in your quiet time or while you are doing your mindless household chores. These faithful spiritual practices help us to grow in our faith and intimacy with God. The exciting faith stories will happens to those who are faithful.

Prayer: Dear Lord, would you help us focus on the being with you daily, then getting caught up with the great pleasures of the world. Help us not to undermine the common and quiet days of spiritual formation and see them as boring, but to act on it faithfully and with faith that you are shaping us through these daily spiritual discipline. Help to enjoy these still and quiet moments oh God! In Jesus name, we pray, amen.