God's Pity for His People
It is God's will for His people to be victorious in their lives and overcome all of their enemies personally by His great power. This can be a reality in the life of any of us who trust the Word of the Lord and obey His Word, while allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us and empower us. However, it is a much different outcome when we do not trust the Lord and obey His Word. We are defeated by the world, the flesh, and the Devil, so that we are miserable, and we cry out to God. Often, the Lord has pity on us, as He had on the people during the time of the judges. (Judges 2:18) Our cries for relief touch His heart, and He sends us someone to help deliver us and to end our suffering. That was the role of the judges who came after the days of Joshua. We can learn a lot from this situation.
Yes, God pities us when we are suffering, even from our own disobedience. He acts in mercy to ease our pain. Therefore, we should be so thankful for His pity and His deliverance that we decide to follow Him fully the rest of our days. However, often we fall back into our unbelief and sin after the deliverance is over. This was the pattern of the people of Israel, and it is the sad pattern for many believers today. This is never God's will, so He has to turn up the heat on us each time we return to sin to deter us from our rebellion. This leads us into more and more suffering, and if we fail to heed the Lord, we get so far from God that we can't hear from Him at all. That is what happens in the book of Judges. I hope all of us will notice this as we read, and it will be a wake up call for us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 3-5.
Yes, God pities us when we are suffering, even from our own disobedience. He acts in mercy to ease our pain. Therefore, we should be so thankful for His pity and His deliverance that we decide to follow Him fully the rest of our days. However, often we fall back into our unbelief and sin after the deliverance is over. This was the pattern of the people of Israel, and it is the sad pattern for many believers today. This is never God's will, so He has to turn up the heat on us each time we return to sin to deter us from our rebellion. This leads us into more and more suffering, and if we fail to heed the Lord, we get so far from God that we can't hear from Him at all. That is what happens in the book of Judges. I hope all of us will notice this as we read, and it will be a wake up call for us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 3-5.