One of the many things Megan and I try to teach our 6-year-old girl, Addy is that there are consequences for our actions. Some consequences are bad (being bossy or not sharing with a friend means they argue and don’t have as much fun as they could together). Some consequences are good (practice music/do homework early and there is time for games and ice-cream).
When we hear the word consequence, we often think more about the bad ones than the good ones. Consequences just don’t have a good name. We don’t like the bad ones and we have to work for the good ones (by the way, have you ever thought about why this is? I’m going to take a wild guess that it’s not because we are generally good people who occasionally do bad things…but that we are sinful people but who are made in the image of God and are capable of doing good…but that’s a whole other topic and one maybe too deep for the first Monday after losing an hour for the sake of saving daylight).
At any rate, there are consequences in life that we deal with every day. Some good…some not so good. And it’s easy sometimes to get bogged down in those bad consequences (let’s face it we’ve all made some pretty poor decisions in life…even some that continue to affect us many years later) and feel like there is no end in sight…like there is only death and destruction for us at every turn. For example, say you’ve made some poor financial decisions that are taking many years to climb out of and it sometimes seems like you just can’t get a break. Or maybe you’ve made some bad relational moves (friend, co-worker, dating, spouse, whatever) and you have to face the harsh reality of that often. Other times, outright sin in our lives causes some pretty undesirable consequences for us to live with. It’s easy to get discouraged.
In my devotions this morning, I was reading in 1 Samuel 12, where King Samuel is giving a farewell address before he “retires.” He recounts for the people what they had before them many years ago, how they have rejected God and asked instead for a king, and where they are at now because of it (consequences). And the people cry out, “Pray for us that we may not die because of this!” They were realizing the consequences of their sin and were discouraged to the point they thought their consequences would kill them. Sound familiar?
Samuel responds, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has please the Lord to make you a people for Himself” (1 Samuel 12:20-22, ESV).
There are certainly consequences for our sin. We cannot live against God’s best for us and expect to have no consequence for that. God is a just God. But He is also a God of grace. Samuel was encouraging those people to not lose heart in doing good. He wanted them to use their consequences as a reminder to quit chasing after the empty things of life…the things that don’t offer them life…the things that bring only death…sin. The consequence is there as a reminder. God may or may not bring us out of a consequence of our sin, but Samuel also reminds his people (and us) that God will not forsake His children…that He loves us…even in the midst of consequences that seem overwhelming. I was encouraged by Samuel this morning. I hope you were too.
Be a witness,
Nate