This is a spontaneous thing which I figured I’d write about; it’s been a long weekend but I’ll try and get my thoughts out on my screen!
I was reading Judges, today, as part of the bible in a year scheme; and not going to lie it was the part which feels more like a chore, as per usual! But something struck me and absolutely amazed me today, and I feel I should tell you about it. It’s something that has come up time and time again in my head; there is a pattern repeated through this book and others in the old testament. Every time I notice it and stop and think: it just seems more and more amazing.
The point at which I stopped reading and decided it was about to time to whack out my laptop was in Judges 6, right at the start. I’m going to write my translation but yours is probably different It starts off with this: ‘Again the Israelites did what the Lord said was wrong.’
Firstly; just consider this. When I read it I just hold for a second; and realise how.. dirty we are. In God’s eyes. How many times He’s washed us anew, He’s got us out of trouble; but .. we fail again.
Compared to the absolute perfectness of Heaven; we don’t even deserve to be alive! We think that this time; our way is RIGHT and that God’s way is not what we should do. We follow the crowd, do what’s popular because we think we know better than what the magnificent Lord Almighty says . . of course my first point is that God is so amazing that He takes us anyway. But if we continue in Judges 6 ..
Vs.6: ‘Isreal became very poor, .. so they cried out to the Lord.’
This is part two! In our everyday lives, exactly the same as what the Isrealites went through back then. No matter how much we believed our way was better at the beginning; it fails, and well, we’re in trouble again. Lost, with nothing, we turn to the Lord .. and here comes the moment of truth, the full showing of how gracious and merciful our God
is:
Vs 7:’when the isrealites cried out to the Lord, .. (8) the Lord sent a prophet to them’.
See? When these guys were at the bottom of the pit, covered in mud, God didn’t stick two fingers up or say ‘I don’t you so’. He actively sent someone to come and get them out of the situation, why? Because he cares. Just flicking through my bible, there’s dozens of examples:
same book, chapter 3! Twice consecutively; vs 7: The isrealites did what the Lord said was wrong..’ and vs 12: ‘Again the people of Isreal did what the Lord said was wrong..’ and as is the nature of our God, there were active, physical solutions sent by Him: vs.15: ‘
‘When the people cried to the Lord, he sent someone to save them..’
The Lord is definitely trying to tell us something here, and although reading these old books from times gone by may seem like a drag, I honestly believe there’s so much we can get from them. Drilling in these accounts reveals the very nature of our God. He is merciful, He is great, He is forgiving, and He will help you.. to every ‘the people cried out’; there is a ‘The Lord saved them..’. He wants what’s best for us; He loves us so deeply.
I’m not quite sure what the general gist of this blog is; a mixture of how the old testament is alive and relevant to me, reassurance of how beautiful the Lord is, just remembering how He did and still does lift us up out of the mug and the mire..
Make of it what you will. I just try and remember, every single day, how much the Lord has done for me. His beautiful grace and mercy; that no matter what rubbish I get in, I still have an amazing God ready to help me up and dust me off.
:)
Thanks,
xx
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Luv XxBethxX
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