Why do we live the way we want to live, ignoring God or at the very least forgetting about Him until something goes wrong?
Images of two planes running into the Twin Towers at etched into my mind. The devastation of 9/11 causing a nation – who was founded on faith in God- to cry out to Him for answers and help.
Black and white footage/films created and displayed at Pearl Harbor have also taken up permanent residence in my mind. As do the films of torture and devastation shown in the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, or those shown at the Caen Memorial Museum.
Too impersonal? What about something that hits closer to home?
Learning that a loved one now has cancer, and the prognosis isn’t good.
Walking into work under the assumption that today will be normal, only to learn that you will be losing your job due to reconfigurations.
Living a good life, or at least believing you do, only to learn of a spouses infidelity and desire to walk away from you.
Friend, the finite details don’t really matter. They aren’t all that important. What seems to be the pattern of our relationship with God is all related to our need (or at least perceived need) for Him. When we need God, we seek God. When we do not believe that we need God – or believe that we can somehow manage life without Him, for many, they ignore God or reject God. This happens individually and corporately.
Why is God so often our last resort? When will we realize that many of the disasters we face may have never happened, had we remained close to God? I am not saying that bad things do not happen to good people, but rather, if we remain close to God, our responses, as well as our mental, emotional and spiritual state would remain strong despite them.
How many times do we make God our last resort, and believe that we are justified in doing so? Can we not wrap our heads around the way that this must feel to God? When we cast Him away repeatedly, why should He desire to come to our rescue? Why should He help us?
“Finally, they cried out to the LORD for help, saying, “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.” (Judges 10:10)
Finally? When nothing else seemed to help? When no one could come up with a better solution? When Baal (or whatever person or priority we make our god) fails us?
Friend, this particular passage of scripture occurred after 18 years of torment! 18 years of trying to be freed on their own! 18 wasted years of trying to meet needs or make changes without God, and it didn’t work. Nothing helped. So finally – FINALLY – they seek God.
Why did it take them so long? Were they trying to hold on to what they wanted to do? Were they afraid that if they sought God, they would have to change? Let go of their new lifestyle? Beliefs? Even though those beliefs and that lifestyle couldn’t compete with what God could provide them?
“The LORD replied, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you. Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress.” (Judges 10:11-14)
God had and continues to have every right to say this to us. When we treat Him as disposable, or replaceable, why should He feel any different?
“But the Israelites pleaded with the LORD and said, “We have sinned. Punish us as you see fit, only rescue us today from our enemies. ” Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the LORD. And He was grieved by their misery.” (Judges 10:15-16)
Even when we blow it, even when we absolutely do not deserve it, God’s heart is softened when we are willing to put aside our sin, our worship of false gods, and return to Him. His love for us is that great.
“Why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?” Because we need you.
Friend, whether we are aware of it or not, we always need God. Always. Not just in times of heartache or disaster. Always. In both the good and the bad, we need God. We were designed to need Him.
It is not too late to put aside that which keeps us from God, and return to the loving arms of the One who can and will transform not only our situations, but our hearts as well.
Blessings!