Amos 4:6, 8, 9, 10, 11 “… yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.

I don’t know that there’s anywhere in the Bible that more explicitly links disasters to God’s desire that His people return to Him. There are countless expressions that reference this, from “There are no atheists in foxholes” to “Impending execution marvelously focuses the mind.” We are very prone to forget God when things are going well, which is terribly ironic when we realize that it is only by God’s grace that things can go well. Again and again and again the Bible makes it clear that God is not mean, that He delights to give good gifts to His children, but turning our backs on Him has disastrous consequences. In His mercy He holds those back much of the time, but when He lets us taste what our actions and attitudes deserve, it is always with the desire and intent that we come to our senses and turn to Him. The world today is certainly a case study in exactly this point. Everywhere we turn there is something, but it seems the majority of people, rather than turning to God, turn to government and to finger pointing. We want everything to be somebody else’ fault, just so we can avoid any hint of responsibility. I’m reminded of something I was taught in a counseling class in seminary: If one spouse comes to you for help with the marriage, ask them if even 10% of the problem might be with them. If they refuse to concede even that much responsibility, it’s no use trying to work with them. There are many factors to every problem, many of them out of our control. Our response to every problem should be, what part is my fault, my responsibility, and how can I change to make the situation better? That’s called repentance, and it is the foundation of salvation by faith through grace.

When I get fed up with blame-shifting in others, I need to remember how much of it I’ve done myself! I have seen marriages break up over this and people make wrecks of their lives in various ways from the same attitude. When I try to help them see that God is trying to tell them something, often they turn on me! I am not to condemn anyone, but I am to speak the truth in love, whether it is received or not. I have found from my own experience that if I am humble before God, He will turn even my “mistakes” around to produce better results than if I had done things “right.” That’s Romans 8:28 in action! However, I’ve got to be open to whatever He wants to teach me through the experience. I need to pray for those to whom I minister and remember that I myself could never “fix” their problems, like they often ask me to, but God can use even me in His solution, so that their hears may be turned to Him.

Father, thank You for using me beautifully yesterday in a situation where one family member had practically despaired in relation to another. Thank You for causing me to make it very clear ahead of time that I had no wisdom or power myself, but You were still God. I continue to pray for that family, that every member would recognize both their need and their responsibility before You, not trying to “fix” each other, focusing on themselves, but focusing on You to let You work Your perfection in and through them, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!