Daily Reflections on Prov. 1:24-28 (Why Is This Happening to Me?)

"God, why is this happening to me?" That question or one like it has been spoken from the lips of many who sought my counsel in a crisis. It's not always an easy question to answer. But sometimes the answer is obvious. I admit that there have been times I've wanted to shout, "Are you blind? You did this to yourself. God had nothing to do with it." I've just wanted to grab my Louisville Slugger and knock some sense into people. When will we get that age old advice, "Play with fire and you'll get burned."

Now I realize that Job suffered great tragedy at no doing of his own. However, more often than not what's happening to us is of our own making. When we ignore the principles of God for finances, relationships, attitudes, business, etc. we can expect trials, struggles, difficulty. You speed to get a ticket. It costs you something. You get too many speeding tickets and they take away your license. That's life.

Ironically, God says here in Proverbs, "You ignore me and I'll ignore you. Don't expect me to bail you out when you purposely chose not to do what I told you." (Dave's paraphrase.) We have to accept the consequences for our actions. You can choose to do, to live however you want, but you can't choose or escape the consequences, nor will God remove them. Sure God is willing to forgive the error of our ways, but He will not take away the consequences of our ignorance or purposeful defiance.

The only reprieve we get is from eternal death when we come to Jesus and accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior. God grants forgiveness and remembers our sins no more. But we still can't escape the immediate consequences of our disobedience, rebellion or sin. Don't expect God to deliver you from something you chose to get yourself into.

God, thanks for your grace to forgive us through your Son, Jesus. Thanks for paying the ultimate price for my sin. Thanks for the sustaining power to deal with consequences of my past sin through your Holy Spirit. Thanks for showing me the path out of my own destructive patterns. Thanks for your Word which is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path.