Rodney King died recently and of course his most famous line was out of the riots that followed his beating and arrest. "People I just want to say you know can we all get along? Can we get along?"  While that line has been comic fare for years ” I ask myself that question all the time.  I don't like conflict or confrontation and living in the midst of tension drains me.

While some like the action of Israel conquering the land of Canaan” I like the verse that goes "Then the land had rest from war."  That is exactly how I would have things end.  Happily ever after and everyone getting along.  Unfortunately that's not the way it ends in life…or in the Bible.  It's true the land had rest from war but that is followed by this:  “So then the Lord left some nations in the land to test the Israelites who had not been through the wars in Canaan.  He did this only in order to teach each generation of Israelites about war ” especially those who had never been in battle before."

God did not leave the enemies because the people were bad.  He left the enemies because the people needed them to become good. I would prefer God drive out all the enemies completely so I can settle down and enjoy the peace but God knows we will become complacent without them.  We want to eliminate risk and obstacles but without them we do not grow.  Moreover” it's not enough to tell our war stories to our children.  They must have their own experiences with opposition and hardship. Otherwise ” they will become "at ease" which is far different from being at peace.

All of us have "enemies" the Lord has left in our lives that we will resist and spend our lives overcoming.  All of us will one day see why they were there and we will tell each other our stories of how we struggled with them. For without enemies there are no stories – just a flat and colorless life of getting along.