13"Yet (A)you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you.
14"(B)Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress."
15The sons of Israel said to the LORD, "We have sinned, (C)do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day."
16(D)So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and (E)He could bear the misery of Israel no longer.
Judges 10:13-16
God is truly a jealous but compassionate God. After Abimelech died and other judges came and went, the Israelites turned back to Baal worship. It was only after they were under heavy persecution by the Philistines and Ammonites that they cried out to the Lord for help. God denied resuing them and told them to call out to their gods instead. They realized that there was no other than Him and they cleaned out all the junk and continued to cry out to Him. God went as far as He wanted to and came to their aid and were delivered.
God wants us to choose Him first in everyhing. Sometimes we get so off track we need to be face to face with our choices and the consequences. God allowed their actions to be carried out so they could see exactly what they were doing which ultimately lead to repentance and delivery. We too will suffer, to the extremes likely. But this isn't to punish or God getting back to us. No, it's the compassion and tough love each of us needs to correct our wayward heart.
Father God, I pray that I never get to this point and that my heart is always soft and moldable. But if I do arrive there I pray that I'm reminded of Your compassion. Amen.
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