our sinful nature...
Today I was reading Lamentations and was taken back by the first chapter. Jerusalem was suffering read bad, they were crying out to God for Help and relief. The nation used to be so prosperous and now it lay in ruins: Verse 1"how deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave."
The people probably had thought that God will still protect them from their enemies no matter how they lived. Isn't it funny how we rely on God to keep us out of trouble, but yet still do the things that hurt him the most? Maybe we praise God with one hand and drink with the other.. maybe its indulging in sexual pleasure before marriage or falling into addictions that we feel we cannot get out of- or worse, feel like we are not ready to let go of.
This time of despair for the people of Jerusalem was brought upon them because of their sins.
verse 8" Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean. All who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns away."
9 Her filthiness clung to her skirts; she did not consider her future. Her fall was astounding; there was none to comfort her. "Look, O LORD, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed."
How much more different are we from them?! Our sin will bring serious consequences if we do not act to change right away. If we are going through tough times in our lives, we should evaluate whether or not our sin is the root or the cause of these hardships. After sinning and going through devastating times- then and only then would we begin to realize that our sins had caused these terrible consequences.
God is slow to anger and quick to forgive... SLOW TO ANGER... he is giving us time to realize what we are doing or have done. We have been warned of how sinful lives can have serious consequences. The Israelites were warned and for some reason they continued to live a life of sin.. and we do that all the time too. We think that "it would never happen to me" or "I'll change later", those thoughts are completely misleading and of the devil. I thought them all the time.. thinking I had time to change, and that nothing devastating would ever happen to me because of the sinful life I was living.. well let me tell you- I was wrong.
verse 18 "The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into exile. "
In this verse the people are crying out saying- Look at what happened to me because I went against God! I guess learn from my mistakes, don't go down the same path that I chose. You see, God loves us so much and when he sees us living a life of sin and walking away from him it hurts him. His actions are motivated by love- so he will begin to try to get our attention back. For me, I walked so far away from God that he began to strip me of things in my life until I had no where else to turn, no one to comfort me, no where to go but to God.
verse 2 Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is none to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies." verse 16 "This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed."
I know it was God's last resort to get my attention, but that is what happens when we think we can get away with our choices.. he is a Jealous God- his purpose is "not to destroy but to bring repentance and restoration"
So accept responsibility for the actions you took- thats the only way you will grow spiritually. Don't feel abandoned by God, we brought this upon ourselves! However, God is such an amazing, forgiving God; he will still love us and come to our rescue in time of need.
