Judges 10:10-14 Then the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against
You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.” The Lord said to the sons of Israel, “Did I
not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the
Philistines? “Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites
oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hands. “Yet
you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver
you. “Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in
the time of your distress.”
Sometimes the Lord will not extend the endless grace and mercy
we count on. I can only speak for myself, but I know that at times in my walk
with the Lord I bank on His grace and count on His mercy. However, like in this
passage, there are times that our Lord will withhold that grace and mercy. As
we look at this passage and the verses that follow, let’s reflect on the Truths
that are communicated.
First and foremost, God does not extend His grace and mercy in
order for us to remain in sin! Sadly, at times we mistreat this gift and our
loving Father must withdrawal His normal actions toward sinners, which is
grace, forgiveness, mercy and restoration. If you or my child were doing
something that is deadly, we would not bless them and encourage them to
continue in that activity. Our Lord’s withholding grace and even His
chastisement toward His children always flows from His love for them.
Hebrews 12:5–11 and
you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son,
do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are
reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges
every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals
with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not
discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become
partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had
earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much
rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us
for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so
that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be
joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it
yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
None of us like to be disciplined, but sometimes we need it! It
awakens our soul to the danger that sin brings into our life. Would it be more
loving for God to just ignore the sin in our life and allow it to destroy our
relationships with Him and others, and in some cases cut short our life and
time of investment for eternity? A loving parent does not condone something in
the life of their child that will harm them. They lovingly confront them,
hoping to turn them from the very thing that is destroying them.
The second issue we run into is a universal principle that God
set up at the beginning.
Galatians 6:7–8 Do
not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also
reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap
corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap
eternal life.
I heard a wise man say once – “we are all free to do whatever we want…except
escape the consequences!” How true most of the time! Many times the hardship we are going
through has nothing to do with God’s direct discipline, but is just the
outcome of our actions. Many do not want to hear this, because they refuse to
take responsibility for their life and the lifestyle they have. Nonetheless,
their refusal does not make this principle any less true.
In either case…what should we do? Should we assume God
will no longer extend grace and mercy? Will God stop His grace forever? How
should we handle when we are experiencing discipline from the Lord, or when we
are reaping what we sowed? We will discover some key Truths as we finish this
section of Judges. God’s Grace is endless…but sometimes withheld.
In
the meantime, this might be a good time to reflect on how you treat the grace of
God and His mercy. Do you have a list of “little” sins, versus Big sins? What
does that say? Is any sin safe? The circumstances you are in right now, who is
responsible for them? How should you handle them?
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