1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:13,220 Speaker 1: Life Audio Hello. Thank you for listening to your daily 2 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:16,660 Speaker 1: Bible verse, the podcast that examines one verse each day 3 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,370 Speaker 1: to learn more about God and His will for us. 4 00:00:20,190 --> 00:00:22,750 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jennifer Slidery, and after this short word 5 00:00:22,770 --> 00:00:30,550 Speaker 1: from our sponsors, we'll continue with today's Bible verse, Judges 10, 16. 6 00:00:39,810 --> 00:00:43,330 Speaker 1: Today's Bible verse is Judges 10.16. Then they got rid 7 00:00:43,350 --> 00:00:45,830 Speaker 1: of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord, 8 00:00:46,130 --> 00:00:51,230 Speaker 1: and he could bear Israel's misery no longer. When our 9 00:00:51,250 --> 00:00:54,300 Speaker 1: daughter was young, I learned the importance of responding to 10 00:00:54,350 --> 00:00:58,350 Speaker 1: her misbehavior with empathy. That doesn't mean I excused or 11 00:00:58,390 --> 00:01:02,930 Speaker 1: ignored disobedience or poor choices. Rather, it meant enforcing consequences 12 00:01:03,150 --> 00:01:07,090 Speaker 1: while expressing my sorrow for the pain they caused. For example, 13 00:01:07,650 --> 00:01:09,270 Speaker 1: if we told her she needed to clean her room 14 00:01:09,310 --> 00:01:11,810 Speaker 1: before spending the weekend at a friend's and she didn't 15 00:01:11,850 --> 00:01:15,030 Speaker 1: do so in time, we could uphold the boundary while 16 00:01:15,090 --> 00:01:18,410 Speaker 1: stating how we shared her sorrow for her missing a 17 00:01:18,450 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: fun event. While I didn't practice this perfectly by any means, 18 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,350 Speaker 1: the Lord does. We see evidence for this in today's verse. 19 00:01:27,810 --> 00:01:31,850 Speaker 1: Let me explain. Most of Judges to this point demonstrates 20 00:01:31,890 --> 00:01:36,670 Speaker 1: that the opposition God's children experienced again and again always 21 00:01:36,750 --> 00:01:41,250 Speaker 1: came as a result of their deliberate and persistent rebellion, 22 00:01:41,370 --> 00:01:46,830 Speaker 1: despite God's warnings and repeated rescue. Worse, in Judges 2 23 00:01:46,830 --> 00:01:50,890 Speaker 1: through chapter 9, we don't see any evidence that the 24 00:01:50,930 --> 00:01:54,860 Speaker 1: people wanted to break their self-destructive pattern. Oh, they wanted 25 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: relief from the effects, absolutely rescue from their pain, but 26 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,590 Speaker 1: not a deeper dependent connection with God. They treated the 27 00:02:03,630 --> 00:02:08,230 Speaker 1: Lord how a drug-addicted teenager might their parents, focused only 28 00:02:08,410 --> 00:02:11,109 Speaker 1: on what they could get from him. In human relationships, 29 00:02:11,169 --> 00:02:15,510 Speaker 1: we might call that manipulative. Whether ancient Israel intentionally treated 30 00:02:15,570 --> 00:02:19,540 Speaker 1: God like a quote-unquote cosmic genie that existed solely to 31 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,780 Speaker 1: meet their needs and satisfy their desires, or were simply 32 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: so consumed, by their own perspective and challenges, the results 33 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,940 Speaker 1: were the same. They often maintained a transactional relationship with 34 00:02:31,990 --> 00:02:35,810 Speaker 1: God that resulted in them drifting further and further from 35 00:02:35,870 --> 00:02:38,670 Speaker 1: him and the life he had planned for them. And 36 00:02:38,730 --> 00:02:43,169 Speaker 1: so he applied the necessary pressure to foster change. This 37 00:02:43,430 --> 00:02:48,470 Speaker 1: was an act of profound love. As Christian therapist, Dr. 38 00:02:48,510 --> 00:02:51,669 Speaker 1: Henry Cloud has said, quote, we change our behavior when 39 00:02:51,690 --> 00:02:55,430 Speaker 1: the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the 40 00:02:55,490 --> 00:03:02,230 Speaker 1: fear of change. The passage surrounding today's verse supports this. Prior, 41 00:03:02,410 --> 00:03:04,430 Speaker 1: in all the times the people cried out for help, 42 00:03:04,990 --> 00:03:08,300 Speaker 1: we don't see them acknowledge the sin that landed them 43 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 1: in their mess. Only this time, in Judges 10, it 44 00:03:12,700 --> 00:03:17,020 Speaker 1: seems different for two reasons. First, the people actually confessed 45 00:03:17,060 --> 00:03:21,310 Speaker 1: their sin and turned from it. Second, they turned to 46 00:03:21,669 --> 00:03:32,410 Speaker 1: the Lord. Verse 10 reads, They finally seem to admit 47 00:03:32,430 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: the connection between their idolatrous behavior and their oppression. This 48 00:03:36,310 --> 00:03:41,460 Speaker 1: seems like a huge step forward. Yet, their heart work 49 00:03:41,980 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: was incomplete. And so, God responded in verses 11-13, When 50 00:03:47,420 --> 00:03:51,279 Speaker 1: the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, 51 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: the Amalekites, and the Moanites oppressed you, and you cried 52 00:03:55,340 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: to me for help, did I not save you from 53 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, 54 00:04:02,020 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: so I will no longer save you. First, he reminded 55 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,220 Speaker 1: them of his faithfulness, beginning with their exodus from 400 56 00:04:10,220 --> 00:04:13,170 Speaker 1: years of slavery to that moment in history in which 57 00:04:13,210 --> 00:04:17,180 Speaker 1: they were, once again, desperate for help. How did the 58 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: people react to centuries of his attentive care? By forsaking 59 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,369 Speaker 1: him to serve false gods made from wood and stone. 60 00:04:27,470 --> 00:04:32,550 Speaker 1: To experience transformation, the people needed to accurately understand their 61 00:04:32,589 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: circumstances and feel the full weight of their choices. So 62 00:04:38,339 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: God made things clear. They had intentionally abandoned the one 63 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,620 Speaker 1: who had rescued them again and again and held power 64 00:04:45,660 --> 00:04:49,140 Speaker 1: and authority over all things to follow after a bunch 65 00:04:49,220 --> 00:04:57,370 Speaker 1: of impotent, inanimate objects. Recognize the Lord withholding deliverance at 66 00:04:57,430 --> 00:05:01,529 Speaker 1: this stage was an act of grace, one that based 67 00:05:01,750 --> 00:05:05,809 Speaker 1: on today's verse seemed to have caused him significant grief. 68 00:05:06,610 --> 00:05:10,590 Speaker 1: Notice the phrase, and he could bear Israel's misery no longer. 69 00:05:11,330 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: So again, the suffering he watched deeply grieved him. This 70 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,620 Speaker 1: reveals the depth of his love for his children, despite 71 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,940 Speaker 1: their rebellion. Like most parents, the Lord doesn't want to 72 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: see his kids suffer. He doesn't want us to miss 73 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,330 Speaker 1: that figurative slumber party, lose our car privileges, or worse, 74 00:05:31,430 --> 00:05:36,890 Speaker 1: lose that relationship or position our behavior sabotaged. And yes, 75 00:05:37,089 --> 00:05:41,630 Speaker 1: he can easily rescue us from our circumstances. But sometimes 76 00:05:41,850 --> 00:05:45,010 Speaker 1: doing so would actually be one of the most unloving, 77 00:05:45,290 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: ungracious things he could do if he removed the pain 78 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: that serves as a catalyst for change. Here's the application. 79 00:05:54,100 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 1: Judges 10 invites us to seek God's help, absolutely. But 80 00:05:58,900 --> 00:06:03,830 Speaker 1: also to prayerfully ask him to reveal if there's anything 81 00:06:03,950 --> 00:06:07,820 Speaker 1: we're doing wrong to land us in today's messes so 82 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: that we don't keep perpetuating the same painful cycles. It 83 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: also invites us to consider our loved one's behaviors and 84 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:24,340 Speaker 1: circumstances through this same pain-motivates-change lens, recognizing that God's delays 85 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:29,529 Speaker 1: are never acts of callous. Everything he does, doesn't do, 86 00:06:29,810 --> 00:06:37,339 Speaker 1: and allows stems from his perfect, unconditional love and inexhaustible grace. 87 00:06:37,820 --> 00:06:42,580 Speaker 1: Let's pray. Holy Father, as we process through the book 88 00:06:42,620 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: of Judges, and in particular this chapter, your response to 89 00:06:47,460 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: the people and what that motivated in them, we're reminded 90 00:06:52,940 --> 00:06:55,620 Speaker 1: that we all have hidden places in our souls that 91 00:06:55,940 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: influence the way we behave. We all have patterns that 92 00:07:01,260 --> 00:07:05,300 Speaker 1: keep pulling us into the same messes. We all have 93 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:13,260 Speaker 1: thought processes that lead us to self-sabotaging pursuits and behaviors. 94 00:07:14,100 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: You know these things. You see in us what we 95 00:07:17,460 --> 00:07:21,770 Speaker 1: can't see. And you invite us to turn to you, 96 00:07:21,830 --> 00:07:26,970 Speaker 1: like ancient Israel did in this chapter, to forsake those 97 00:07:27,030 --> 00:07:30,490 Speaker 1: behaviors and to turn to you, the only one who 98 00:07:30,550 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: gives us a power to break those barriers. behaviors. And 99 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,250 Speaker 1: so we're doing that now. We recognize transformation doesn't come 100 00:07:38,290 --> 00:07:41,910 Speaker 1: in a minute. We recognize that there's some effort involved. 101 00:07:41,950 --> 00:07:47,830 Speaker 1: But Lord, every time we're tempted to respond, to react, 102 00:07:48,150 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: and to behave in a way that does not align 103 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,500 Speaker 1: with our core values, with who we truly are in 104 00:07:55,580 --> 00:08:01,150 Speaker 1: you and through you, remind us to pause, take a breath, 105 00:08:02,100 --> 00:08:05,620 Speaker 1: to give ourselves time to sense your presence. If we 106 00:08:05,700 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: can't sense your presence, to ask for you to make 107 00:08:09,260 --> 00:08:15,430 Speaker 1: your presence known. And in that space, may your Holy 108 00:08:15,670 --> 00:08:19,870 Speaker 1: Spirit take control. Remind us throughout the day to hit 109 00:08:19,910 --> 00:08:24,750 Speaker 1: pause so that we can learn to more consistently rely 110 00:08:24,870 --> 00:08:27,710 Speaker 1: on you. Maybe we put a timer in our phone. 111 00:08:28,270 --> 00:08:32,370 Speaker 1: sticky notes in strategic places, whatever it takes, Lord, for 112 00:08:32,550 --> 00:08:37,050 Speaker 1: us to learn to increasingly turn to you, sense your presence, 113 00:08:37,350 --> 00:08:42,020 Speaker 1: listen for your voice, and receive your transformative strength. And 114 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:46,839 Speaker 1: we are so grateful that you sent Jesus Christ, your Son, 115 00:08:46,860 --> 00:08:51,300 Speaker 1: our Savior, to break the power of sin and self-destruction 116 00:08:51,460 --> 00:08:55,910 Speaker 1: over our lives and to empower us to live new. 117 00:08:55,929 --> 00:08:59,080 Speaker 1: We love you, And we praise you. And it is 118 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,210 Speaker 1: in the name of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, 119 00:09:02,250 --> 00:09:03,290 Speaker 1: that we pray. Amen.