“Whenever the Lord raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and
rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the Lord
took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering.”
Judges 2:18
Life can sometimes feel like an endless cycle…everything going fine…then comes the blow…you get back up… then another blow…and another fall. The book of Judges is about such a cycle, but this one lasted over three hundred years.
The Israelite’s cycle story went like this: They did evil in the Lord’s sight…they were defeated and enslaved by enemies…they cried out to the Lord…and He raised up judges to rescue them. Decade after decade, their choices caused a repeated cycle of distress.
But notice, the Lord took pity on His people. Their cycle story paints a picture of God’s unfailing love that we need to understand today. God watches us struggle over and over, and He longs to fix our cycle of distress with His circle of love.
You see, no matter how far away you run, no matter what you have done, God’s circle of love just keeps expanding. He grieves when you turn away…He takes pity on you when you’re distressed…He comes to your rescue when you cry for help.
God wants you to live IN His circle of love. But when you choose to go your own way, you push that circle into a cycle of suffering that only HE can fix. Your Father lovingly reshapes your twisted cycle back into a circle…a circle that will also repeat over and over…HIS unfailing circle of love!
