From the depths of distress

Friday July 9, 2021

From the depths of distress

“My sufferings have become my salvation.” Isaiah 38.17

The Bible tells us at length and in detail the vicissitudes of a people declared to be protected by God the Creator. Israel's status might suggest that everything had become beautiful and easy for the Israelites because it is a privilege to be "the chosen people." Only there is a difference between the “people of God” and the “God of the people”. Indeed, the people regularly free themselves from the tutelage of their God. This infidelity, which seems an act of freedom, does not however lead to better times. Misfortunes befall the people who, refusing God, no longer benefit from His protection or His benevolence. We must not think that God takes pleasure in punishing the unfaithful, carried away by a dull and vengeful anger. If we refuse God, God withdraws. The man emancipating himself from God is like a soldier without armor or shield, like a person in the storm without an umbrella. When God is cast out, He goes away, but with Him go the shelter, the help, the support, the asylum. The evil world around us can turn out its weapons and strike with its usual cruelty and widespread injustice. Why would God go after His children when, left to themselves, they dig their own misfortune ? Is it reasonable to criticize God and complain about the misfortunes that fall upon us when we decide to do without Him, in the name of the desire to lead our own lives, to satisfy our cravings and unhealthy appetites ? Now, it is when man has strayed from God and suffers the consequences that he suddenly remembers Him. Why ? Because, far from Him, the blows which assail Him oblige Him to seek the lost refuge. So, trial is what triggers the desire to find God. Something bad is good, a popular saying goes. Isaiah the great prophet said : “Behold, my very sufferings have become my salvation ! You took pleasure in withdrawing my soul from the pit of nothingness.” He is happy to see that if man moves away from God, God is always ready to come back to his side as soon as the call for help is called. God is everything except a grudge.

Source (His Word for Today)