Lesson 18: God’s Sovereignty Keeps Us from Becoming Spiritually Lazy

Judges 2:18-19 "Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways."

Whenever the Israelites would stop seeking God they would start getting into trouble. So they cried out to God to save them and out of mercy God would save them by sending them a judge. But as soon as the troubles were over and the judge was gone, they went right back to their evil ways. If we are honest with ourselves, we do the very same thing. If things are going smoothly in our lives, we start neglecting our relationship with God. We start getting spiritually lazy. Out of mercy, He orchestrates a few difficulties and our spiritual laziness goes right out the window! From the book of Judges we find an example of this kind of situation in the story of Samson. God had given him the gift of great strength, but because he trusted in his own strength he got himself into trouble over and over again. He even married a woman from the enemy camp! The people of Israel suffered while he just showed off his strength. Then he fell in love with the wrong woman and God allowed the situation to get so bad that Samson was captured and put into prison. Not only that, he lost his great strength, and they also blinded him so he would never be able to hurt them again! But when Samson finally realized His need for God, God in His sovereignty returned his strength for one final mission (Judges 13-16).


Whether we like it or not, or whether we want to admit it or not, many times our difficult circumstances are God's loving way to shake us out of our spiritual laziness and get us back on track seeking Him. So is God being a tyrant for allowing us to go through difficult times? No, not at all. God is so wise that He can even use unpleasant circumstances to get us on our knees to start seeking Him. Therefore, the challenge is to seek God at all times, not just when things are difficult. This is the great news. Once we are back on track, we find that we have actually grown closer in our walk with God. This is exactly what we all pray for. As He rescues and delivers us, we discover that it has all happened because God is Sovereign.

* Can you find a verse in the Bible which promises you that when you seek Him, He will always be found by you?