90 Day Challenge : Week 3 – Freedom Before Obedience

One Chapel family,

As we move into Week 3, an important pattern becomes clear: God rescues before He instructs.

This Week’s Reading

Joshua 1 – 2 Samuel 12

Israel has been delivered from slavery. Now they must learn how to live as a free people. Victory, failure, courage, fear, obedience, and compromise all appear side by side as God’s people begin settling into the land.

A Cultural Insight

In the ancient world, laws were typically tools of control — created to protect the powerful and manage the weak. God’s instruction tells a different story. His guidance is given not to enslave, but to form a people shaped by justice, compassion, and trust.

God does not give commands to earn His love. He gives direction to people who already belong to Him.

As You Read

Notice how often God reminds Israel of where they’ve come from and who He has called them to be. When they trust Him, life flourishes. When they forget, chaos follows — not as punishment, but as consequence.

This week’s stories are honest and sometimes uncomfortable. They show us that freedom requires formation, and faith must be practiced daily.

A Simple Invitation

If a story unsettles you or stirs something deeper, don’t rush past it. Sit with the tension. Talk about it with your group or share a reflection with someone else walking this journey. Scripture often forms us most through the parts we don’t immediately understand.

God is not just giving instructions — He is shaping a people.

Grateful to be walking this road together,
One Chapel Leadership