“Surely at the command of the LORD it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent lood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not forgive.” (2 Kings 24:3-4)
Not every verse in the Bible is rainbows and butterflies. Verses like the one above remind us that God brings judgment as well as redemption.
What would the world look like if evil was never reckoned for and the bad guys never faced the consequences of their sins? It would be a dark world without justice… but it would also be an awful world without forgiveness.
So, how long should God wait before overturning our lives because of sin? Should He wait one day? Five days? A year? A decade? That seems like a God-sized question that is too hard for us humans to wrap our brains around. We know there is a time, but only He has the wisdom to know when that time is. We’ve got to trust Him.
All we need to know is this: God loves to forgive, but He hates to see evil run amok. He is constantly balancing judgment and grace in every situation. He did it with nations like Israel, Edom, Babylon, etc. He also did it with individuals like David, Manasseh, Samson, and Nebuchadnezzar.
If the world gets turned upside-down, maybe it’s because He is purging something that needs to be purged. It might hurt, but it might be a hurt that we need.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites