Disobedience and Distress
Series: Right in God's Eyes
May 28, 2023
Frank Foreman
Romans 8:28, And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. ---------- What causes you distress? Maybe it is a child or spouse who might be hurting physically or spiritually. Perhaps it might be the loss of a job, or financial stress. Whatever it might be, distress comes in two basic forms: those things that others have done to me and those things that I have done to myself. ---------- Either way, the simple answer is obedience to God. By obeying Him, you are accepting that whether the source of your distress is from someone else or from your own actions (sins), God has the capability to bring it around for your good. Whatever the circumstances are, God makes a way where there can sometimes seem to be no way. ---------- It is the story woven throughout the book of Judges--God brings deliverance to His people even when they don't deserve it and even in situations that seem otherwise hopeless.
Episode Notes
(Journal) Judges 2:11-15, 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.
John 8:34, Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
John 8:31-32, So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Big Idea: Disobedience leads to distress…
Repentance leads to rest.
Romans 8:28, And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
1. God uses our distress to test our obedience to Him.
(Journal) Judges 3:1, Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan.
(Journal) Judges 3:4, They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
Psalm 26:2, Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.
James 1:2-4, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
(Journal) Judges 3:5-6, So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.
2. God uses our distress to teach us crucial lessons.
(Journal) Judges 3:2, It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before.
2nd Corinthians 10:3-4, For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
Matthew 16:18, And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Psalm 20:7, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
3. God uses our distress to remind us where to turn.
(Journal) Judges 3:7, And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
(Journal) Judges 3:8, Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.
2nd Corinthians 7:9-10, As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
Revelation 2:4-5a, But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.
Luke 3:10, And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?”
Acts 2:37-38, Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(Journal) Judges 3:9-11, But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
Next Step: It is right in God’s eyes… Cry out to Him in your distress.
Psalm 18:6, In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.
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