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Pastor Christopher Brock

March 30, 2024

Judges 8:33-34, NIV

“No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.”


As I think back and examine my life, I can see multiple times in which the Lord came to my rescue. There have been times in my life in which I wanted my life to end, and I was filled with hopelessness and grief. It felt like the enemy was all around me and there was no way of escape. Yet, as I look back on those times, I have a question for myself… why have there been multiple times when I felt that way? I know that I come to know Christ and accept Him into my life, and I believed that He was the Son of God and had died and risen again on the third day. So, if I knew that then why did I come to the places of despair that I had found myself in before?

 

I believe that the answer, just as with all questions, can be found in God’s Word. Let’s look at the Israelites and the path that they took after they took over the centuries after the Exodus from Egypt. On many occasions we read stories of how the Israelites would find themselves in difficult situations and in desperate need of help. We then see the Lord come to their aid and deliver them from the hardships they were facing, and the people would humble themselves and give thanks to the Lord. Then, as life began to settle back down and become normal, the people began to abandon the Lord and live their lives according to their own desires. They would forget the Lord and the blessings that He had given to them and even though He had rescued them, they would go back to their old ways.

 

In my life I look back and I see a similar pattern. I would make decisions on my own and do things my own way believing that it would turn out great and nothing could go wrong. Then as time passed and I drifted further and further away from the Lord all the things that seemed so great began to crumble. When I came to a place with nowhere to turn, I would cry out to the Lord and He would hear me and save me. Then I would be on fire for Him…. for a season, until life settled back down and became comfortable again. It has only been in the past handful of years that I began to realize the foolishness under which I was living. No matter what times we are living in, whether good or bad, easy, or difficult, the Lord shall always be the love of my life and I will seek Him every day with all my heart, all my mind and all my soul.

 

If you are reading this today and this writing sounds familiar then know this, the Lord wants you to return to Him and to repent of what you have been doing. He is waiting to welcome you back and forgive your sin. But He also seeks to change you. He desires that you are a new creation. Come to Him and let Him work in your heart and you mind and soul, and then go and sin no more.

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