“Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against
them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and
they were greatly distressed.” (Jud 2:15 AV)
This is a horrible place to be.
When Israel failed to follow the LORD and went after Baalim, then God
was against them. Not merely removing Himself
from their nation, but actually working against them in the pursuits of
life. The LORD frustrated their cause. He allowed the enemies that remained in the
land to become their captors. No matter
what they tried, it didn’t work. There were
no blessings. There was no success. The LORD worked contrary to the goals and
wishes of His children. This is a
horrible place to be. One that we are
all experienced.
Have you ever seen a child who is frustrated because he cannot have
what he wants? Having raised three sons,
these times were numerous. Instead of
removing what he wanted but was not allowed to have, he was forced to confront
his own selfishness or stubbornness.
Perhaps an object that was not for little fingers. Mom or dad picks the child up and sits him in
front of a toy which he is allowed. He
is frustrated, turns about, and crawls to the object not allowed. The parent picks him up, places him back down
in front of the toy allowed, and the contest resumes. The more the child fights the more frustrated
and angrier he becomes. It takes a bit
of time, but eventually he realizes his parent is much bigger than he and controls
his movements. The next step in this
resolution is the child figures he cannot win by turning and crawling, so he
sits in front of the toy allowed and does nothing. He refuses to play with it. It is at this point the parent either wins or
loses. That child will sit there and
then reason that if he cannot play with an object not allowed, he will simply pick
another toy that he is allowed and play with it instead of the toy in front of
which he is placed. He turns toward it
and crawls. The parent has a
decision. The contest of the wills is
on. Repeatedly placing him back in front
of the toy allowed may seem like a cruel thing, but what that parent is
teaching that child is that acting contrary to the will of the parent is
frustrating and, in the end, robs him of blessings. Once surrendered to the toy allowed and thus
the will of the parent, the relationship between parent and child changes. They are not longer adversaries. They are friends.
If we work contrary to the will of the Father, He will work
contrary to us. He will not bless our
efforts no matter how sincere they may be.
He will become and adversary. One
that cannot be defeated. One that seeks
to curse all our ingenuity and pursuits until we submit to His perfect
will. This is a horrible place to
be. One of which we need to seek remedy
by repentance and conformity.
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