I don't think anyone prefers troubling times, feeling insecure, or realising we are in danger. These seasons of hardship can provide a blessing and benefits ease and comfort cannot. Recently I saw an example firsthand of how trials shift our perspective. I observed a new social media acquaintance share a series of posts on what bothered them, pet peeves concerning politics and church. But when there was a diagnosis of cancer in the family, the perspective shifted to seeking God in prayer with tears. The awful, sudden illness shifted focus from self to God for the better.
The Bible has many such examples. The book of Judges has a repeating cycle of people doing what is right in their own eyes, crying out to God, then God raising up a deliverer. Yet as soon as the judge through whom God wrought deliverance and rule died, they ceased from following the LORD. God revealed this predictable outcome concerning His people in Deuteronomy 32:15-18: "But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; you grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, and scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 16 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger. 17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. 18 Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten the God who fathered you."
When the house was built, the food abundant, and the enemies defeated, the people of God grew complacent. With physical needs met and barns full there was little motivation to pray for God to provide. Thankfulness and gratefulness were swallowed up with greed and covetousness. Their success caused them to forsake the God who caused them to succeed in every endeavour. They were not mindful of God because they were not troubled on every side and did not seek His guidance because they were self-confident. God, in His grace, would allow His own people to fall by the hands of their enemies, to suffer lack and pains, to face famine and languish through drought so they might recognise their lack and turn their eyes to God again.
How silly it is to kick out at God, to provoke Him with pride and idolatry! This tragic response of God's people has been a cycle common in my life too. There is a redemptive aspect of failure, tragedy, and trials I do not always appreciate at the time: God uses seasons of plenty and lack to show us what is in our hearts and to move us to look to Him in thanksgiving and salvation. It is good for us to come to God hungry and thirsty, desperate for His wisdom and guidance like a little child who runs to his father when he sees a stranger, an unfamiliar cat, or upon hearing a noise at night. In all our doing, our coming and going, let us not forget the God who fathered us, the God who loves us and has graciously provided for all our needs. This place of faith, humility, and reliance upon God promotes spiritual fitness and increases energy for His service.
The Bible has many such examples. The book of Judges has a repeating cycle of people doing what is right in their own eyes, crying out to God, then God raising up a deliverer. Yet as soon as the judge through whom God wrought deliverance and rule died, they ceased from following the LORD. God revealed this predictable outcome concerning His people in Deuteronomy 32:15-18: "But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; you grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, and scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 16 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger. 17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. 18 Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten the God who fathered you."
When the house was built, the food abundant, and the enemies defeated, the people of God grew complacent. With physical needs met and barns full there was little motivation to pray for God to provide. Thankfulness and gratefulness were swallowed up with greed and covetousness. Their success caused them to forsake the God who caused them to succeed in every endeavour. They were not mindful of God because they were not troubled on every side and did not seek His guidance because they were self-confident. God, in His grace, would allow His own people to fall by the hands of their enemies, to suffer lack and pains, to face famine and languish through drought so they might recognise their lack and turn their eyes to God again.
How silly it is to kick out at God, to provoke Him with pride and idolatry! This tragic response of God's people has been a cycle common in my life too. There is a redemptive aspect of failure, tragedy, and trials I do not always appreciate at the time: God uses seasons of plenty and lack to show us what is in our hearts and to move us to look to Him in thanksgiving and salvation. It is good for us to come to God hungry and thirsty, desperate for His wisdom and guidance like a little child who runs to his father when he sees a stranger, an unfamiliar cat, or upon hearing a noise at night. In all our doing, our coming and going, let us not forget the God who fathered us, the God who loves us and has graciously provided for all our needs. This place of faith, humility, and reliance upon God promotes spiritual fitness and increases energy for His service.
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