When Everything or Everyone that Challenges You Isn’t Removed- Obedience
Last week we looked at when God doesn’t remove everyone and everything that challenges you, through the lens of Judges 3:3. The Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites- these were nations of people that God left in the Promise Land when the Israelites entered.
God knows what He’s doing with His children, and He knows how best to raise us and grow us as people. He didn’t wipe out those various nations for 2 reasons:
1- So that that generation of Israelites would know how to fight…
2- To test them, to see if they would be obedient to Him.
“They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.”
Last week we looked at reason #1. This week we’ll look at reason #2. God is so clear on this issue. There is no gray area. Point blank, obedience is better than our sacrifice. It’s better than going to church every week, it’s better than giving back and helping the poor, it’s better than being a pastor, it’s better than being a good person, etc. When we don’t obey God, it shows a life that’s out of control. And, the Bible is full of situations and examples where God was angered because a person or a group of people chose not to obey something so simple.
From Adam and Eve eating the fruit- which led to them getting kicked out of the Garden; to King Saul not obeying God and totally destroying the Amalekites like he should have- which led to him losing favor with God and God setting His sights on a new king: David; and, to the people of Israel time and time again testing God and disobeying His statutes- which led to them being captured and exiled…
Looking at last week’s passage in Judges 3, God left various nations in the Promise Land so that the people of Israel would learn how to fight. But, to test them and see if they would obey His commands. God doesn’t completely remove our “thorns in the flesh!” Why? Because we would get proud and do silly things and perhaps live a life a part from Him. So, he keeps annoyances around so that we stay humble, always needing to rely on Him.
Time and time again in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses states how God tests us:
“Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. ”
There is safety in obeying God. When we obey Him and get out of the driver seat it shows that we trust Him to lead us. When we step outside of those bounds and disobey Him, not only does it anger and upset Him- because we don’t know how to listen- but it leads to our own heartache and pain.
As children, when we did the opposite of what our parents told us to do, we got punished. We angered them because we didn’t know how to listen. It’s the same thing. All of us have to obey authority. For when we obey authority there’s order, respect, and civility. When we obey God, then He will bless us with more because we can handle more.
If you’re clearly disobeying God in an area of your life, consider getting out of the driver seat, repenting, and letting Him take over by obeying Him. Same goes if you’re disobey human authority that has been placed over you.