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Judges 2:18-19
Whenever the LORD raised up a
judge for them, he was with the judge and saved
them out of the hands of their enemies as long
as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion
on them as they groaned under those who
oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge
died, the people returned to ways even more
corrupt than those of their fathers, following
other gods and serving and worshiping them. They
refused to give up their evil practices and
stubborn ways.
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March 8
A Cycle of Forgetfulness
When we read the Bible, it
is easy to throw up our hands and wonder how the
people could be so stupid. How could the
Israelites fall into idolatry again when they
had just been rescued from the consequences of
it? How could the people be so blind as to
not see Jesus as the Messiah? How could
anyone forget the miracles of God?
But how often do we forget
the things that God has done for us? There
are times when we don't know how we're going to
pay the bills in a month and we get an
unexpected check or a bill turns out not to be
as high as we expected. And the next time
bills are due we fret once again. Or what
about the health problem that we or a family
member has to endure? We often forget
God's faithfulness to us in the past in favor of
the problem before us.
How do we forget the cycle
of forgetfulness? Be an optimist.
Sure, times may be difficult but remember back
to when God saw you through a similar problem.
Odds are God has helped you survive even bigger
problems before so this keeps things in
perspective.
Even if you've never faced
a similar problem or one as big your current
crisis, remembering that God has been faithful
to you in the past will help build faith for the
future. Even in the midst of all their
sin, God didn't abandon the Israelites when they
cried out for help, He won't abandon us
today either. |
