Based on 1 Samuel 7:2-17 (New King James Version)
“So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, ‘If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.’ So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only. And Samuel said, ‘Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.’ So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted that day, and said there, ‘We have sinned against the Lord.’ And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah. Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. So the children of Israel said to Samuel, ‘Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.’ And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’ So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. But he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the Lord.”
Are the problems that we have always a product of our own sin? There is one thing we need to keep very clear, and that is that sin complicates and destroys everything in this world, for the wages of sin is death. Sin produces everything unpleasant in this life such as sickness, wars, poverty, hunger, pain, and even death. That is why God hates sin. He has allowed for sin to exist so that choice can be possible, so that free will can have a purpose. But, just because God allowed something (out of love) does not mean that He likes it. God made all beings free to choose their own path, but each path has a consequence, because God has given the power of choice even to the angels, and of course, some chose for evil, like Satan and what are now demons. In the same manner, man can choose, whether to follow God or follow the enemy. Love gives the power of choice because God ultimately wants those that are with Him to be with Him because they really want to, despite any circumstances. That is the greatest likeness the Most High made us with, that we also want to be surrounded by beings that truly want to be with us because they want to be, out of love, and not for any other reason.
Now then, coming back to our original question, “Everything bad that happens here and now is a product of our own sin? Not always are problems a product of our own sin, but yes, the majority of time it is our fault (and I know that no one likes to know that, but that’s the truth). The majority of times we either ruin things, or choose wrongly, or complicate things as a result of sin or many sins that we commit. If we see the passage we read today, Israel was pressured and overwhelmed by the Philistines because they chose to follow and worship other gods outside of the Lord. They forgot Who they really owed everything to, and they followed foreign gods and idols, and even Ashtoreth, a god that people they had conquered worshiped. Sinning against God through idolatry, for example, will never make sense or be logical, no matter how much man tries to excuse or justify it. Let’s think about this: “Why follow a god like Ashtoreth that even failed the same people they conquered?” Nonetheless, they chose to follow other gods, so then, God took away His divine protection. Most times, God does not need to exercise Himself much, per se, just only allow for the natural consequences of sin to take effect. Only God can bring about freedom. Satan and everything that belongs to him only brings pain and defeat, sooner or later. Everything of the enemy and the world is an illusion and temporary. There is only life in God, but when we do His will.
Now, what can we do about this? Does God simply just want to destroy mankind? No. This is what the Word says: “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, ‘If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?’ ’ Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’” Ezekiel 33:10-11. The Word counsels us like this also: “Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’ So the people asked him, saying, ‘What shall we do then?’ He answered and said to them, ‘He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.’ Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, ‘Teacher, what shall we do?’ And he said to them, ‘Collect no more than what is appointed for you.’ Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, ‘And what shall we do?’ So he said to them, ‘Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.’” Luke 3:7-14. Perfection here will never be possible because this world is corrupted, but yes, many things can change if a person truly repents and converts from all of their evil ways to follow the Living God, by submitting to the Lordship of Jesus, like the people did in today’s passage. And it’s simple, just try to do things genuinely, with all of your heart, and God will work. But what is most important is not necessarily to see things change here (because this is temporary), but rather, see God’s reward in eternity, in what is to come, when God Himself says to you: “… ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ Cast aside your sin because it doesn’t help with anything, and put your eyes on Him that is eternal, faithful, and true. So then, will you look to continually repent, convert, and be transformed for eternal life, or will you continue being submerged in the sin that will only produce destruction and even eternal death? Lord bless! John