“I will go [and] return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.” (Ho 5:15 AV)
Isn’t that the truth? It is too bad we live this way. We learn things the hard way. For Israel, it was no different. They rejected the word of God and suffered consequences because of it. From Judges to Malachi, Israel existed in this pattern. They would walk in obedience and faith for a time. When times were good, they forgot God and walked their own way. Jehovah allowed them to suffer the natural consequences of their choices. He stepped away, so to speak, and waited until Israel had enough of its own self-inflicted troubles. Then they cried out, and God delivered them. Again and again, they did this. Before we think they are an exception to a rule, let us remember we are of the same species. We are the same human beings as they are and were. We are no different. Unfortunately, the LORD must allow or cause uncomfortable circumstances of life before we seek Him early. The good news is when we seek Him early, He is always found!
The confidence Jehovah states above is both reassuring and inescapable. My father did not play chess, but he lived his life as if he did. There was no maneuvering with him. It didn’t matter if the battle was an intellectual one or a battle of wills. Dispassionately and with total confidence, my father played the game of the wills. He played 3-D chess while we were stuck on a traditional board. My father was ten steps ahead. He knew where we were going even before we knew where we were going. In debating our cause, his attitude was, “I am right, you are wrong. So, what is it you wanted to discuss?” As a child, that was extremely frustrating. Today, I kind of chuckle about it. Those times when we tried to assert our independence apart from his wishes, he may have let us have a bit of liberty, but he always held all the cards. There were eyes watching all over town. If my father wasn’t there, he had friends who were. We couldn’t get away with anything. If we sought permission for something we knew he wouldn’t grant, the debate wouldn’t last long. Checkmate! His confidence in parenting was unmatched. A master of strategy, he was always in control. For a child, that might not have been fun. But it did mean unparalleled security. He was in control even when we were not.
The LORD is the same way. And a big part of me is deeply grateful. It may not have been any fun for Israel to suffer for bad choices, but if they are true to themselves and the LORD, they are grateful for it. Just last night we watched a show where a father encouraged law enforcement to imprison his son. “It will do him some good”, he said. It may not be the best times of our lives, but they are necessary. We may not like the hardships of life. We may not like the lessons we have to learn. But what a promise from a loving Father than when those lessons come, we will run right into the arms of the God who loves us with an everlasting love. I know I write of this often. Maybe because we need to learn and live it more. The LORD is maturing us. He is helping us to grow into the image of His Son. This comes at a cost. It doesn’t come naturally. We need to learn hard lessons that will change the person that we are. Rather than resent those lessons, we need to be grateful. We may not have appreciated the spankings our parents gave us at the time of application. But now that we are all grown up, we are deeply thankful for parents who loved us enough to inflict a bit of hardship to the tenderness of our backside! Praise God for it all! And even more so, praise God for His confidence and faithfulness. Praise God!
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