Curses, Confusion, and Frustration

I was reading along in my Chronological Daily NLT Bible when one verse stopped me.  "The Lord himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed  for doing evil and abandoning me. (Deut. 28:20)"


It made me think ... God really goes all out for drawing us back to Him, doesn't He?  He lets us suffer the really hard stuff so that ultimately, we go searching for Him.

Really bad stuff ... stuff that will completely destroy us ... like being shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean?

Happened to Paul, but not what He promises the Israelites.

Massive volcano, reminiscent of Dante's Peak?  Making entire states flee?

Nope, not lately.

Maybe an asteroid headed straight for North America?  Threatening to take us all out, just like in Armageddon?


So far, no.

I'm not making light of the tragedies that befall our planet.  There are a lot of them, and they seem to be increasing.  Earthquakes in Haiti and Japan.  Rampant disease in Africa.  Crime epidemics in America.  War in the Middle East.  Drugs everywhere.  It's awful.

But God doesn't promise those things in this particular verse, either.

He promises to give us confusion and frustration.

Isn't it funny how a negative attitude is all it takes to completely derail our day and ruin our lives?  Think about it.  If a middle schooler drops something in front of a football player at school, isn't their first reaction to dye their hair and move to another state, never to be seen or heard from again?  Drama, people.

God knows us, inside and out.  He knows that it doesn't take the doozies to get our attention - it only takes a lost key or missing shoe or burnt toast.  He uses those big natural disasters when they happen, but it's more likely that He'll test us with an alarm clock that doesn't go off and the ensuing mad dash to work to remind us that He's right there, waiting for us.

I'm glad that God is there in the big things, but I'm glad that He uses those little things, too.  I'm still working to be patient with missing keys and lost shoes - I don't think I'm up for regular landslides yet.

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." ~ Romans 8:28


And if you haven't listened to Francesca Battestelli's latest, give it a listen here.