“Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” (1 Sam 8:18)
When Israel asked for a king, the LORD did three things:
- He warned them of the consequences because He loved them.
- He gave them a king because He respects our freedom to choose.
- He promised to not protect them from the consequences because He wanted them to learn.
The same God that warned of the consequences didn’t rescue them from those consequences. If we don’t feel the pain of our mistakes we will never learn from them. Pain is a feedback mechanism built by God. We see it in our nervous system that reacts with pain to a hot stove and we see it in our hearts that react with sorrow when they are broken. Pain is a teacher with strict rules and boundaries.
Our God would rather see you suffer than remain a fool. Character is more important than your comfort. You can’t always rescue people from their own consequences – you rob them of the opportunity to learn. It isn’t love to allow someone to never grow up. God lets you suffer for the same reason parents should let their children suffer and families of addicts cut them off instead of enabling them. Love knows sometimes you have to learn things the hard way.
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)