THE STORY OF JESUS: Judges 10-12
“Israel was in great distress. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, ‘We have sinned.” (Judges 10:9-10)
They say that desperate times call for desperate measures.
The period of the Judges was a desperate time; Israel was struggling to learn how they needed God.
When life was good, they forgot about God and went their own way… until their way crashed.
It was in their distress that they saw their true condition, and their true need for God.
I see this pattern repeated often, in my life and among other christians as well.
When life goes well, we get comfortable and casual in how we live.
When we have no cares, we become careless, and choose dangerous paths away from God.
We neglect prayer, spiritual growth and discipline because life is good, things are fine.
And then life gets hard, and we cry out for God, and wonder why He is not there.
How long will it take for us to learn; no God, no peace; know God, know peace!
Instead of blaming God for being absent, maybe we need to confess that we were absent.
Not all hardship is the direct result of neglecting God, but many times it is.
Don’t just wait for times of distress to cry out to the Lord.
And don’t let good times cause you to forget the Lord – you need Him more than ever!
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, I see this pattern in my own life. I confess it, and I want to change it. Help me to pray harder in good times, that I may be strengthened through the tough times.