Today’s devotional is a quick one. The cycle of Judges is that Israel does evil, God punishes Israel, Israel cries out, God raises up a Judge, the Judge delivers Israel, Israel does evil. In this particular example we are looking at the Ammonites. But what I found frankly kind of hilarious is when they call out to God to save them from the oppression that are under, He replies, “Why don’t you ask your new BFF god to save you?”.
[fire emoji]
And they reply, “punish us tomorrow, but save us today!” Not realizing the amazing irony that what they were experiencing WAS the punishment God was visiting on them for their perpetual disobedience!
Here’s the thing: we look at bad circumstances as God abandoning us. But God will never abandon us. He will let us have the desire of our hearts so that we can see how it actually HURTS us rather than helping us. But that is done in order to bring repentance. Whatever circumstance you are in, make sure you are open to the Holy Spirit and allowing God to do His good work in you. Gold is refined in fire, not a warm blanket.