TU’APULELULU MA’ASI 26, 2026

LUTE 1-4; 1 PITA 1:3-12

Often when God seems absent in moments of hardship, he is actually exercising his sovereignty to deliver good gifts of grace to his children.

Taimi lahi ‘oku tau pehee ‘oku puli ‘a e ‘Otua ‘i he taimi ‘o e faingata’aa, ka ko e taiimi ia ‘oku ne fakahaa’i ai ‘a ‘ene pule aoniu ‘aki ‘ene tufa mai ‘a e me’a’ofa ‘o ‘ene kelesi ki he’ene fanau.

We have all been through tough moments of suffering when we wonder where God is and are confused about what he is doing. If you read through the biblical narrative, you will soon have to let go of the conclusion that hardship means God is absent, distant, uninvolved, or uncaring. Behind dark clouds of difficulty is a God who is actively working for the good of his children. God regularly takes his children places they never would have planned to go in order to produce in and through them things they never could have produced on their own. It's important to recognize that the workings of God's

grace aren't always predictable or comfortable. Often when we think grace has passed us by, God's grace is at work, just not in the way we expect.

The book of Ruth, one of the greatest biblical stories, contains a compelling and beautiful substory. On the surface Ruth is a beautiful love story, and one of the few biblical stories with women as main characters. But there is a deeper, more significant love story in the book of Ruth. It is the story of God's unshakable, unstoppable love for his children. This story of human hardship and human love is also God's assurance that he will exercise his wisdom and his sovereignty, he will remember his covenant promises, he will be faithful, and, through hardship, he will deliver gifts of kindness and grace to his own. Although the story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz is compelling, the one on center stage is the Lord. Through the vehicles of hardship and human love, God establishes the direction of the rest of the redemptive story.

At the end of the story, Ruth and Boaz have a son. We read, "Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, 'A son has been born to Naomi. They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David" (Ruth 4:16-17). These words give us a sense of what this story has been about all along. God doesn't just deliver Ruth and unite her to Boaz, but he delivers to this family a son. This son, Obed, will have a son, Jesse, and Jesse will have a son, David, and ultimately out of David will come a son, the Son of David, Jesus. Through this little story of hardship and love, God sets things in place to deliver something: the ultimate promise, the gift of gifts, the Savior, Jesus Christ,  through whom God's redeeming love will flow.

God will work and continue to work his redeeming plan until that plan is complete; this is the ultimate story behind every other story. Remember that it is at the intersection of God's sovereignty and his grace that life and hope are to be found.

 PULELULU MA’ASI 25, 2026

FAKAMAAU 19-21; SAAME 17:7-9

Even in the worst vacuums of human leadership, the people of God are never without a King.

Neongo pe ‘oku kaupo’uli fe fe ha pule’anga ‘i he tu’unga ‘a hono taki, ka ko e kakai ‘a e ‘Otua ‘oku ‘ikai li’ekina kinautolu ‘e honau Tu’i.

When I stand up to speak or sit down to write, I feel as if a crowd of people stand up or sit down with me. These are all the teachers, pastors, professors, spiritual mentors, Christian leaders, writers, and friends whom God has used and is still using to form me. I am thankful for each one of them and for the lasting mark they have made on me. They have helped me to understand the gospel and to know what it looks like to teach and preach God's word, how to live a ministry-oriented life, what it means to be a good husband and father, what it looks like to lead others in ministry, and how to continue to grow in God's grace. God has blessed me with people to lead, teach, guide, and correct me. None of these dear people has been ever-present in my life. They have all come and gone, according to God's plan. But there is one who has always been present-leading, teaching, confronting, protecting, and providing. It is my Savior King. All the "kings" he has placed in my life are temporary representatives of Jesus's always faithful and eternal kingship.

The last verse of Judges says, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judg. 21:25). This sad, dark, and disharmonious chorus is repeated throughout Judges. After being set apart as the people of God, after all of God's glorious display on their behalf, after God had raised up deliverer after deliverer, after all his loving protection and provision, and after warning after warning, the children of Israel are now in this sad state. Moral individualism reigns; each person sets himself up as his own moral authority. Although still a nation chosen by God, Israel now functionally ignores his presence and authority. These words should make us weep.

In this way Israel desperately needs a human king, one chosen by God to be his moral representative, not only to lead Israel in government and battle but also to call Israel back to functional worship and service of the one who had liberated them from slavery. He had given them his law, made provision for the forgiveness of sin, provided for them, and defeated their enemies. Israel desperately needs a godly leader who will lead them in a moral reformation.

But when I read this final verse, I think, "But Israel did have a King-the Creator, Sovereign, King of kings." The people of God not only desperately needed King David, a man after God's own heart, but ultimately they needed the perfect King, the Son of David, Jesus. They had the best King ever, yet they resisted him again and again and chose to be content with self-rule. No matter what "kings" are in our lives, may God grant us grace so we will joyfully surrender our wills to the will of the one perfect and eternal King, Jesus.

 TUSITE MA’ASI 24, 2026

FAKAMAAU 16-18; SAAME 127:1-5

Success in life and ministry isn't God's endorsement of your character but rather a revelation of his.

Ko e ola ‘oku ha ‘i ho’o mo’ui mo e lotu ‘oku ‘ikai ko e faka’ilonga ia ‘o e hoifua mai ‘a e ‘Otua kiate koe, ka ko e fakaha’anga pe ia ‘a hono langilangi.

God exercises his power for the sake of his people. He is faithful in guiding, providing for, and protecting his children. He unleashes his sovereign authority to deliver his promises at just the right time and place. He reigns in power and authority for his own glory and the good of his people. God does not let anything or anyone stand in the way of his wise and holy purposes on earth. In order to accomplish his purposes and fulfill his promises to his people, God raises up human leaders. He gives them wisdom and insight. He gives them power way beyond their natural strength. He grants them authority and success. He uses human instruments to advance his divine purpose.

But there are some important things that need to be said about the leaders God chooses to use. First, in his sovereign wisdom God uses whomever he chooses to use. When we read through the narrative of Scripture, we can be surprised by whom God chooses to use in order to move his purposes along and to fulfill his promises to his people. Samson is one of those surprising instruments.God gave Samson superhuman power and ability. On behalf of his people, God chose Samson to be a conqueror. But Samson was a mess.

He disobeyed God and made regrettable moral choices. He was clearly driven more by his passions than by the clear will of God. This points to a second truth regarding the instruments God chooses to use for his glory and the good of his people. The fact that God gave Samson power and success does not mean God endorsed Samson's lifestyle or his moral choices. What is revealed in Samson's feats is God's character and faithfulness to the people upon whom he had placed his love.

Success in family, career, ministry, or any other endeavor should never be assumed to be God's endorsement of the way you live your life, the moral choices you make, the way you spend your money, your personal spiritual life, or the way you conduct yourself in relationships. God gives you success not to display your glory but to reveal his own. He gives to those to whom he chooses to give, he promotes those whom he wants to promote, and he empowers those whom he wants to empower-not so that they would receive honor and praise, but so that his people would give him the praise that is his due. Because success tempts us to be proud-to think that we are something we are not-success is more spiritually dangerous than failure. Only one instrument was perfect in every way and received God's complete endorsement: Jesus. "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17). Every other human instrument is flawed and dependent on God's rescuing, forgiving, and protecting grace.

 MONITE MA’ASI 23, 2026

FAKAMAAU 13-15; 1 TESALONAIKA 4:1-8

If you could watch a recording of your life from the past six weeks, what influences would you conclude had shaped your actions, reactions, and responses?

Kapau na’e malava ke ke mamata ki ha hulu mai ho’o mo’ui ‘i he uike ono kuohili, ko ha nai ‘a e ngaahi ‘oku ke tui na’a ne uesia ho’o ngaue, to’onga mo ho’o tali ‘i he fononga’anga?

Years ago I drove to the mall with my three-year-old son to complete an errand. It was a mundane journey on a mundane day. But the question the little voice in the back seat asked me was anything but mundane: "Daddy, if God made everything, did he make those light poles?" Now, what impressed me was not that my three-year-old son asked me a theological question. No, what impressed me was how deeply human it was to ask this question. God, in his creation wisdom, had designed my son to be an interpreter. He was created to think, that is, to try to make sense of his life, his surroundings, his relationships, and his own identity. When I heard the question, I knew that an interpretive process was happening and that the way my son made sense of the world would shape the direction of his life.

Before too long my son would be a young man, thinking about profoundly important moral and spiritual issues. Out of his moral conclusions would come a set of morally weighted desires, and out of those desires would come a set of choices, and those choices would form a lifestyle, and that lifestyle would carry with it a set of moral blessings and consequences. What I have described is the life cycle of every human being made in the image of God. That cycle is obvious in Judges 14:1-3:

Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. Then he came up and told his father and mother, "I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife." But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes."

Samson desired a wife. This was entirely appropriate. God designed us to be social beings, and he created marriage for our thriving and our good. But the wife Samson wanted was a Philistine, and God had expressly forbidden such a marriage. Samson's parents protested because they knew that what Samson was thinking was wrong and that what he wanted was something God had forbidden. Samson's response to his parents' protest is telling: "Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes." You see, our God-given ability to think is always shaped by whatever rules our hearts. The big moral question is, Are our desires and choices ruled by what we think is right or by what God thinks is right? Our thought life is a place of spiritual warfare, a place of battle between God's will and our will, and for that we need God's rescuing and protecting grace.

 SAPATE MA’ASI 22, 2026

FAKAMAAU 10-12; MATIU 22:34-40

Is your life its most spiritually vibrant when you are in times of trouble, crying out to God, or in times of ease, when things are going well for you?

‘Oku ke fakatokanga’i ‘oku ma’ui’ui ange ho’o mo’ui fakalaumalie ‘i he taimi ‘oku faingata’a’ia ai, ‘o to’e ki he ‘Otua, pe ko e taimi ‘oku faingamalie ai e me’a kotoa?

Great spiritual wisdom and counsel are embedded in the narrative of Judges. These accounts, lovingly preserved for us, demonstrate the patient love of God and are meant to warn, protect, and guide us. They have been recorded for us so that we would not err in the ways that our spiritual forefathers did. The book of Judges is like a father's sitting down on the couch with his children, telling stories of the mistakes and failures of past generations of the family, because he wants his children to learn, live wisely, and not fall into the same errors.

But perhaps the most encouraging thing about this portion of God's word is its revelation of God's jealous heart. Think about it. In a marriage, jealousy can be a good thing. If I were to say to my wife, "Go ahead and find another lover; that would be fine with me," she would be horrified. It is right for me to crave that Luella would give me the love of her heart to the exclusion of any other man. God's jealousy for the hearts of his people is a sign of the depth and faithfulness of his love.

The book of Judges is also helpful because it describes Israel's sad spiritual cycle. This is preserved for us as God's loving warning. Here is the cycle:

Israel experiences a time of ease and prosperity.

They forget the Lord.

They pursue other gods.

God uses the surrounding nations as tools of discipline.

Israel cries out for God's deliverance.

God sends a deliverer.

Times of ease return.

The cycle repeats.

Judges records this repeated cycle because God loves us and does not want us to wander away too. What is true for the children of Israel is true also for us. Times of comfort and ease are often the times when our prayer and devotional life weaken, our thankfulness for all of God's providing and protecting mercies wanes, and we begin to look for our identity, meaning, purpose, and inner sense of rest and peace horizontally rather than vertically.

It is also clear in Judges that God's discipline, no matter how harsh, is not his rejection. His discipline is a sure sign of his love. It is God's fighting for the love and loyalty of our hearts. It is God's wrenching us away from other lovers in order to claim us once again as his own. In times of comfort and ease, does your pursuit of God weaken? Does your heart wander? The cross and tomb of Jesus tell us how far our jealous God will go to claim us as his own. Bask in the depth of God's jealous love for you today, and cling to him with your whole heart.

 TOKONAKI MA’ASI 21, 2026

FAKAMAAU 8-9; ‘EKISOTO 20:4-5

Our God is a jealous God and will not share the love of our hearts with anyone or anything.

Ko hotau ‘Otuá, ko e ‘Otua fua’a pea ‘e ‘ikai te ne tali ke fakauoua’i Ia ‘e ha taha pe ko ha me’a.

In the twenty years I spent as a counselor and counseling professor, I witnessed the devastation of adultery and divorce, up close and personal, countless times. I have heard shattered wives tearfully tell the sad story of progressively uncovering their husband's betrayal. I have sat with lost and afraid children who had been thrown into the chaos of the war of their parents' hurt and anger. I have listened to husbands, blind to the destruction of their lust, defend themselves and minimize their sin. I have seen homes become divided houses. I have watched the darkness of grief set in. But with all that I have experienced, I have come to understand that there is an adultery far more devastating than physical/marital adultery. Nothing leaves a legacy of deceit and darkness like spiritual adultery. It captures hearts, derails lives, and causes people to be comfortable with walking away from the one whom they were created to love, enjoy, and fellowship with forever.

Take note of the words of Judges 8:33-35:

As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the  Baals and made Baal-berith their god. And the people of Israel did not remember the  LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

As you read this passage, one phrase jumps off the page: "and whored after the Baals." This is your Lord using strong language to help you understand what was going on with his people. Israel's relationship to God was not a kind of loose friendship where they could enjoy the company and love of many friends. No, they had been bound to God by an eternal covenant. Their pursuit of and worship of Baal was the spiritual equivalent of a man or woman pursuing, seducing, and sleeping with someone other than his or her spouse. The dramatic difference here is that the person they are being unfaithful to is God Almighty.

What is spiritual adultery? Any time I give the love of my heart to something other than God, so that this love controls my thoughts, desires, choices, and actions in the way that only God should, I have committed spiritual adultery. This passage tells us two of the roots of spiritual adultery. The first root is God-forgetfulness: "The people of Israel did not remember the LORD." The second root is unthankfulness: "They did not show steadfast love" to the family of Gideon.

Jesus came to restore us to the one love we were created to give our hearts to. Confess with me that you too can be God-forgetful and unthankful. Confess with me that you still have a wandering heart. Pray with me for strength to cling with all of your heart to your Lord. Be thankful with me today that Jesus lived, died, and rose again so that you can know both his saving and his keeping grace.

 FALAITE MA’ASI 20, 2026

FAKAMAAU 6-7; ‘EKISOTO 4:1-17

Fear fails to rest in the power of the Lord and looks too much at the ability of oneself.

Ko e ilifiaa ko e ‘ikai nofo ma’u ‘ete falalaa ‘i he ivi ‘o e ‘Otua kae sio pe ki hoto mafai fakaetangata.

Judges 6 is a master class on the anatomy of fear.

Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor." And Gideon said to him, "Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian." And the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?" And he said to him, "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." And the LORD said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man." And he said to him, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me." (Judg. 6:11-17)

Pay attention to how fear operates in the face of the call of the Lord. Let me set the scene for you. God calls Gideon, who is threshing wheat in a winepress, to lead Israel against the Midianites. You crush grapes in a winepress, but wheat needs to be threshed in an open, airy place so the wind can separate the grain from the chaff. Gideon is doing something inside that needed to be done outside, because he is afraid of the Midianites. God knows exactly who he is calling. God often chooses the most unlikely person to do the grandest thing, so that he gets the glory and not some human hero. Note how God greets this fearful man: "The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor." Because the Lord is with him, "mighty man of valor," is, in fact, Gideon's true potential. But Gideon misses the point entirely and is afraid for two reasons.

First, Gideon has come to doubt the presence, goodness, and faithfulness of the Lord, saying, "God, if you are with us, then why has all this bad stuff happened to us?" The defeat of Israel by the surrounding nations had nothing to do with the absence or weakness of the Lord; it was his discipline of Israel for their disobedience and idolatry. But a second thing contributes to Gideon's fear. He looks too much to his own experience and ability. "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least of my father's house." Here's the plan. God calls the weak to be vessels for the display of his power, so that he will get glory and our hearts will turn to worship him.