Judges 2 “Strongholds”

Judges 2 – Brandon Hatmaker “Strongholds”
Austin New Church – South Austin Cares
Thursday, July 28th, 2008

“Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you." – Judges 2:3

Just a short thought for today… but this is the verse that stood out to me. The Israelites had made some poor decisions in allowing the Canaanites to stay among them. And they now have to live with those consequences.

We experience the same. It’s interesting how when times are tough, we sometimes blame God or ask Him “why” we are in the situation and why He wont seem to help us out… yet many times the reason we are in that situation is because of a decision we’ve made to either disobey or simply just live without consulting God’s leading in the first place.

I think we would all see things a bit more clearly if we would ask first, “seriously, self, how did I get myself into this situation?” I think we’d then learn from our past, make better decisions in the future, and the best part... protect our heart when it comes to placing blame on others… especially God.

Now, I do acknowledge that not all issues are a result of what “we “ do. How would an abandoned child take blame for a parent leaving. However, in understanding the nature of man (as adults) we know that we cannot control how others act… especially when it comes to bosses, parents, etc… but what we can do, is take this perspective and apply it to ourselves as bosses, parents, etc… and break the pattern.