Misery

Judges 10:16 Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord.  And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.

As happened so many times in the history of the Israelites in the early years in their promised land, the Israelites were heavily influenced by the worship of other gods and in doing so, forsook their worship of God alone.  In the verses leading up to this verse, we are told that God became angry with them and “sold them” into oppression by surrounding peoples.  He allowed them to fall into hard times.  This time, when the Israelites called out to God, His response was, “Go and cry out to those gods you are worshipping.  Let them save you!”  And, as happens to all of us from time to time, the troubles we face can be like a smack on the side of our head, the “ah-ha” moment when we realize that we have lost our focus on God.  At that moment, we can refocus and take steps to get back in line with God’s purpose for us.  I love the end of this verse as it reminds me of God’s continuous love and care for me even when He has to allow bad things to happen to me to get me back on track.  He cannot bear to see me in misery ... it is never His delight or His will for that to happen, but He will allow it to happen if that is what it will take to get me back on track spiritually.