What percentage of the time would you say everything is “right” in your world? Enough money in the bank. Relationships free of conflict. Cars running well. Work is satisfying. Good health for you and those you love.
Not very often? Me either.
I used to think that if I could just “get over this hump”, then everything would be good. The hump might be a financial issue, a health concern or something at work. (Currently, I’ve got all three.) Beyond the hump, life would be good. Smooth sailing. On the other side of humps though, I usually find more humps. Some are big and some are small, but they’re still humps.
The problem is that when the pressure is off, I relax a bit too much. My passion for seeking God isn’t as strong. I’m not as dependent on Him. Walking by faith feels less necessary.
I think that’s what happened to Israel once they entered the Promised Land. Under Joshua’s leadership, God gave them great victories over their enemies. They occupied the good land God had given them and enjoyed peace. 400 years of slavery, 40 years in the desert, 26 years of war under Joshua and 19 years more years of fighting after Joshua’s death were all in the past. Now it was going to be smooth sailing.
But they didn’t do so well with the pressure off. They forgot God and served the gods of the people around them.
Judges 3:5-7 says:
“The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daugthers to their sons, and served their gods. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.”
As much as I don’t like humps, they do cause me to seek God and put me in situations to believe Him rather than what I see. That’s why Paul said we “rejoice in our sufferings” and James said to “consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”
Rather than resisting the humps and trials and difficulties, maybe I should embrace them and see them as tools in the hands of a loving God, who is faithfully working out His plan to conform me to the image of His Son.