God's Love Through Cycles

I have been meditating on the topic of God's love for his children. As I studied the Bible, several circumstances in which people may question God's love for them came to mind. One such circumstance is a "repeating cycle."

Have you been going through cycles? Have you been bouncing from rough season to rough season? Maybe you have felt like God is not listening-- or that He isn't moving. Perhaps, no matter what you do, you find yourself back in the same position.

Every time I read the Book of Judges, I am reminded of how great God's mercy is. The Israelites suffered oppression over several generations, and God showed them mercy. For an individual who is experiencing cycles within just one generation, it may be easy to question where God is in those moments. But a closer study of the Israelites shows that God was with them, and He wanted His people to be free. So, what stood in the way? A pattern.

From chapter to chapter, the Israelites would rebel against God, adopting the ways of the wicked. This pattern would lead them back into captivity. Over and over again, God would free the generations of Israelites from slavery and war. But the next generation of Israelites would fall into oppression as a result of their rebellion and idolatry. This isn't to say that every oppression is caused by one's own rebellion. But a point can certainly be made about God's love for us through repeated cycles by studying these chapters.

From chapter to chapter, just before the Israelites' deliverance came, they would turn back to God and cry out for help. And when they cried out to God, He would send a Judge to deliver them. (Judges 3:9; 3:15; 4:3; 6:6-7; 10:10-16).

When the next generation of Israelites would repeat the cycle, I would feel the urge to ask "again?" As if I had not read these accounts many times before. But I also had to check myself. How many times have I had to relearn a lesson?

It's easy to want to be free from captivity without having to stop the things that got one into captivity to begin with. The Israelites would engage in the behavior of the wicked but find it unfathomable that those same wicked people would enslave them. The Israelites would practice the witchcraft and be shocked that the witchcraft had a price. They would worship the false gods of the people but realize that only the true God could save them.

Your rough season is not an indicator that God does not love you, or that He is not there with you. There could be many reasons why you are in your position. In the case of the Israelites, it was because they had a lesson to learn. Judges 3:1-4, states that the Israelites were tested to learn warfare and to determine if they would follow God's commandments. If you have been in this particular pattern, think of God's grace and mercy. God loves you. God wants to rescue you. Turn back to Him. Renounce your sin. And ask the Lord to deliver you.

Additional Reading:

Judges 2-10