Sometimes life is just plain hard. For God’s people, this can be just a reflection of the brokenness of this world and the fallen nature of humanity. But there are times when God brings struggle to believers for a purpose. That purpose is always good, even when the experience is awful. For Israel, God brings a roadblock and a loss into their story for His work in them. As a newly formed nation under God, they need to learn some things about the God they worship and the way they should relate to Him. A seemingly unnecessary obstacle shows up and asks us why God would allow it. Then a major loss comes and God seems to use it to remind them of something and to ask them to learn how to grieve and to look forward. In these stories, we’re still learning what it means to be God’s people!