-- Tuesday, 8/10/10 -- HIS STUBBORN LOVE -- Judges 10:11-16
J.R. & Bonnie Ricks
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HIS STUBBORN LOVE -- Judges 10:11-16 NIV
The LORD replied, "When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!"
But the Israelites said to the LORD, "We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now." Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the LORD. And he could bear Israel's misery no longer.
Israel was guilty of an age-old human problem – forsaking God when everything was going well. Every time they got in trouble, God would deliver them from their enemies. Then, the moment things got quiet and peaceful... the moment they began to prosper... Israel found better things to do than worship God. In fact, the whole nation turned to idol worship! And God reacted like any parent would when His children desert Him... He felt rejected and angry – so He told them to go get help from the idols they were worshiping. Israel suddenly realized they had pushed God to His limit… so they wised up. When Israel threw out the idols and began to serve God again, His love for them overcame His anger... and once again He delivered His people from their enemies.
Does this pattern remind you of anything familiar? How about the last time you got in trouble? Did you pray constantly – more than normal? Did you read your Bible more than usual, searching the scriptures for inspiration, for comfort, for guidance? Did you spend hours talking to your Christian friends, asking them for prayer and for advice? Did you commit to get involved in church, to seek a position in Sunday School, even go so far as to sign up for a special job? Then....
If you're like most people, the moment things smoothed out, you put God on the back burner. Your prayer life slipped to almost nothing. Your daily devotion and study time became weekly, then monthly, then not at all. You began to find excuses for not getting your job done at church. You began to spend more time with your non-Christian friends. And something else in your life became your God – whether it was work, money, another person, whatever – something else replaced God's Number One position in your life. You pushed God about as far as He would allow you to push.
God never changes. Your rejection of Him is just as painful to Him today as Israel's rejection was three or four thousand years ago. He still has His limits. But He also still has His stubborn love for you.
When things are going well, remember to keep God first in your life. Remember that He wants you to be close to Him all the time, not just when things are rotten. But if you forget. If you get side-tracked. If you've been pushing His limits in your life. Remember, His love is a stubborn love. He will never let go, even if you do.
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5b NIV
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