And the Israelites served Eglon of Moab for eighteen years. But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help. The Lord again raised up a rescuer to save them. Judges 3:14-15 (NLT)
You might be saying “Amen! This is awesome.”
I’m saying this is not awesome. This is bad, actually. Not that God is showing up. That’s not the bad part. I read this and it generates a question:
Why did they wait 18 years to call upon God?
Why? The first day they fell under the oppression of this awful king, they could have called on God. And for 18 years they took it. They let it happen. Like I’ve said before, the forces of evil are not scared of you. But if you call upon God, they start trembling. Why didn’t they call out sooner?
You might be uncomfortable answering this question because you, like the Israelites, have delayed in calling out to God. I did it for 21 years. 21 years trying to figure out my own life. Trying to do it my way. And not getting anywhere–not anywhere that mattered anyway.
Why do we delay? Well, there’s many, many reasons why we delay calling out to God. Shame is one of them. “I’m ashamed of who I’ve become. I’ve turned my back on God.” Or it could be self-loathing. “I’m not good enough for God. God won’t answer me if I call out to Him.” Pride is another one. “I can handle this. I can take care of this. I don’t need to call out to God, because I’ve got this.” Perfectionism is another reason. “When I get my act together, then I’ll call out to God because then He’ll accept me.”
All of these are culprits, and you have your culprit that has stopped you from calling out to God when you needed Him most. Why not call out to God now? Why wait? Why wait for the deliverance to start? I waited too long. Way too long. I wish I would have done it sooner. But I’m glad I did. And let’s forget about what we haven’t done. Let’s think about what we can do now. Can you call out to God now? Can you give Him this thing that’s piling up in front of you that’s overwhelming, that you don’t know how you’re going to fix it? Can you give it to Him? Call out to Him and say, Lord, deliver me.
To hear Chaplain Milton share more on this topic click here: https://youtube.com/live/a0pWumgZhU0
