And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.
Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
(Judges 2:11-16 ESV)
Nothing is harder in life than feeling that the hand of God is against you, EXCEPT knowing that His hand is against you, and being unwilling to do anything about it. The people had turned their backs on God, ignoring Him as the One who gave them the promised land. Instead of worshiping Him and living lives of thanksgiving before Him, they worshiped the things found in the land, feeling a sense of entitlement and self-existence. Even when they recognized the foolishness of their ways, their repentance was often short-lived and superficial. The more comfortable we become with God in our lives, the more distress we will put ourselves in. Are we in deep distress yet? Will we call out for deliverance, and remember and reverence the One from whom all things come?
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