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Have you ever walked through a time in life when everything was just hard? I sure have. Before I could catch my breath, something else was going wrong. Every minute of every day was stressful. I went to bed stressed and woke up stressed. It was awful.
Recently, through the teaching of Daniel Adams at The Supernatural Life, I heard the phrase "the crushing season". As he was teaching, I realized that I knew exactly what he was talking about. Out of that teaching, I began to learn more about how God works to change us and bring us back to the path He has for us.
Throughout the Old Testament, we see a group of people that God loved. He wanted to be their God and He wanted them to be His people. He wanted to love them, provide for them, protect them and He wanted them to want that, too. For a while, they followed the Lord and obeyed His commands. But, just like in our world today, other things grabbed their attention and they began to worship other gods.
In the book of Jeremiah, we see God calling the people of Israel to Himself as they move further away from Him into idol worship.
Jeremiah 2:11-13 "Has a nation (ever) changed gods even though they were not gods (but merely man-made objects)? But My people have exchanged their Glory (the true God) for that (man-made idol) which does not benefit them. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked and shudder with horror (at the behavior of the people)", says the Lord. "For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned (rejected) Me, the fountain of living water, and they have carved out their own cisterns (well or pit), broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
The footnotes in the ESV Global Study Bible say, "Palestine has three sources of water. The best is fresh running water, such as flows from a spring or stream, which is called "living water". Next comes ground water, such as might collect in a well. Last, is runoff water collected in a cistern (a pit hewn into the limestone and plastered to prevent seepage).
Thus, in Jeremiah's image, not only have the Israelites traded the best of water supplies for the worst, but also their cistern is broken. All its water has leaked out and nothing but sludge remains. Israel's covenant infidelity is not just ungrateful and unnatural; it is also foolish. It leaves them without help in the coming difficult days."
Jeremiah 3:12 "...return, faithless Israel," says the Lord; "I will not look on you in anger. For I am gracious and merciful," says the Lord...
Jeremiah 4:1 "If you will return, O Israel," says the Lord, "If you will return to Me, and if you will put away your detestable things and remove your man-made god from My sight, and not stray or waver, and if you swear (your oaths), 'As the Lord lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will bless themselves in Him, and in Him they will glory."
Jeremiah 4:4 "Circumcise (dedicate, sanctify) yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskin (sins) of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem or else My wrath will go forth like fire (consuming all that gets in its way) and burn and there will be no one to quench it, because of the evil of your acts."
In Jeremiah 7:22-23, the Lord is telling Jeremiah the command He gave to Israel when He brought them out of Egypt. He said, "...'Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God and you shall be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, so that it may be well with you.'
God knows better than all of us that if we walk in His way, it will be well with us. He could have completely abandoned Israel because they didn't obey His voice. In Genesis 17:7-8, God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham to bring his descendants into Canaan and He said, "I will be their God." He refused to give up on them. In the Amplified version, Jeremiah 10:16 tells us that Israel is the "tribe of His inheritance (and He will not fail them)-The Lord of Hosts is His name."
If God would strive with a people not obeying Him, how much more will He keep us and fulfill His promises to those that serve Him with their whole hearts.
Deuteronomy 7:9 Therefore know (without a doubt) and understand that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who is keeping His covenant and His (steadfast) lovingkindness to a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.
God wasn't about to break the covenant He had made with Israel and their forefathers, even if they were unfaithful to Him. But, He was going to have to deal with their unfaithfulness. God has been faithful to me even when I was unfaithful to Him. But, He also dealt with my unfaithfulness.
The covenant God made with Israel was I will take care of you if you obey Me. But, the children of Israel did not hold up their end of the deal. Instead, they worshipped other gods, committing all kinds of sexual immorality and even sacrificing their children to those gods. God loved them but He had no choice but to send them into their crushing season.
The crushing season is a time where God gets us back on His path to life. It is not intended to crush us physically, although it can seem like it some days. Instead, It exposes the filthiness of our souls. It lets US take a long hard look at where we've been walking and the things we've been trusting in. Do we give God our very best or does He get our leftovers? Do we dabble in worldly things thinking God doesn't care or doesn't notice?
Ezekiel 8:12 Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each man in his (secret) room of carved images? For they say, 'The Lord does not see us; the Lord has abandoned the land.' "
But, God certainly did see them and it kindled His anger toward Israel even more.
I have had regrets about choices I've made and have often asked God, "Why on earth did I do that? But, before I can even finish my thought, I am always quickly reminded of the fact that I was walking in known rebellion to God. I had made a choice to turn on my heel and walk away from His love and protection. He allowed me to serve other gods for a while but, because of His great love for me, He sent me into my crushing season.
As I was listening to the teaching about the crushing season, I had a sudden revelation. The Lord had allowed me to bump into my second husband online. I had been on a dating app for a year and had decided to end my subscription. That same night, I got on another site that was free and met this man. My crushing season began with marriage to a man I had only known for 23 days. This is not to condemn him. He was as broken as I was and God used many circumstances during that time to bring about the crushing that would ultimately change my life.
However, God will absolutely bring people into our lives to escort us into our crushing season. In Jeremiah 25:9 (AMP), when God was telling His plan for how Israel's time of captivity would begin, He said, '...behold (hear this), I will send for all the families of the north', says the Lord, 'and I will send for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, MY servant (to enact My plan)...'
Nebuchadnezzar did not serve God but God used him mightily in his plan for Israel. God will use people to bring about His will for our lives. He will use all kinds of things to cause the pressure to build and build. Here are a few of the things He used in my season:
An alcoholic husband that changed jobs ten times in one year; I was responsible for dropping him off at multiple trucking companies, usually in other states; often, I would have to pick him up after orientation (3 days) when he would change his mind about working with that company, all while holding down a full-time job and homeschooling my teenagers
Money problems
Living in a mobile home that had roaches and a huge crack between the floor and the wall that let the cold winter wind in
A hurricane
Sickness in my body
Pain of seeing my children hurting
A close loved one announcing they were gay
Struggling with my step-daughter who was also hurting
Three big moves to three different cities
Bed bugs
Both of our dogs getting killed at the same time
Foreclosure
Lost inheritance
A wreck with a semi that totaled my SUV
And so much more!
There were days the stress was so great I felt like I couldn't take a deep breath. I was so extremely overwhelmed that I shut down. I became so passive that I could barely work and I couldn't be what my kids needed me to be.
I just didn't care anymore.
I began to just cry before the Lord. I couldn't pray. I just said, "God" and I would cry some more. He always met me there and gave me strength to face another day.
Interestingly enough, it was during this time that I began to discover my passion for natural health. It was as if, in the middle of all that turmoil, God allowed one of the best things in my life to begin to bloom.
The crushing season is not to hurt us, it's to discipline us. It wakes us up to realize we are nothing without God. Our lives are dark and full of chaos and despair without Him. I didn't change overnight. I had fallen a lot further away than I realized. It was a harder journey to get back than I ever imagined. When God takes us through the crushing season though, He always restores us, just like He did Israel.
Jeremiah 29:10-14 "For thus says the Lord, 'When seventy years (of exile) have been completed for Babylon, I will visit (inspect) you and keep My good promise to you, to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,' says the Lord, 'plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call on Me and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear (your voice) and I will listen to you. Then (with deep longing) you will seek Me and require Me (as a vital necessity) and (you will) find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' says the Lord, 'and I will restore your fortunes and I will (free you and) gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' says the Lord, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'
God is loving and longsuffering. He loves humanity. He works with us and strives with us because He wants what's best for us. He KNOWS what is best for us. Clearly, we do not. If I had been seeking God all my life, I would have made different decisions than I did. I would not have had to be crushed. But, I was following the voice of another.
Jeremiah 2:19 "Your own wickedness will discipline you, and your desertion of the faith will punish you. Know therefore that it is an evil and bitter thing for you to abandon (reject) the Lord your God, and for you to be indifferent to Me and dismiss the (reverent) fear of me," says the Lord God of hosts.
The book of Lamentations is Jeremiah's first-hand account of Israel being taken into captivity by the Babylonian army.
Lamentations 1:9 Her (ceremonial) uncleanness was on her skirts; she did not (seriously) consider her future. Therefore, she has come down (from throne to slavery) in an astonishing manner; she has no comforter. "O Lord" (cries Jerusalem), "look at my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself (in triumph)!"
Lamentations 2:11 My eyes fail because of tears (mourns Jeremiah), my spirit is deeply disturbed; my heart is poured out on the earth (in grief) because of the destruction of the daughter of my people (Jerusalem), when little ones and infants faint in the streets of the city.
Lamentations 3:15-18 He has filled me with bitterness; He has made me drunk with wormwood (bitterness). He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has (covered me with ashes and) and made me cower in the dust. My soul has been cast far away from peace; I have forgotten happiness. So I say, "My strength has perished and so has my hope and expectation from the Lord."
But, just a few verses later...
Lamentations 3:21-23 But this I call to mind, therefore I have hope. It is because of the Lord's loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because His (tender) compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness.
It is easy to picture the destruction and devastation from his writing. This was never God's desire for Israel. He gave them every opportunity to change, to come back to His loving arms and they rejected Him time and time again.
We can see just from the book of Jeremiah that God wants to be our God and He wants us to be His people. We can avoid the crushing season if we will humble ourselves and seek God with everything in us. We will always face difficulties and hardships. God uses these things to work the junk out of our hearts and to cause the fruit of His Spirit to grow. He will always use people to antagonize us and us them. Just as Proverbs 27:17 says "iron sharpens iron". We need those rough edges filed off sometimes.
I urge you today to examine your life. Are there idols erected to other gods? Are you sacrificing your walk with God on the altar of pride? Are you sacrificing your marriage on the altar of lust? Have you erected a man-made image of social media that you give your attention to more than God? Is the TV the altar in your home where you devote your time? Do you sacrifice your children on the altar of busyness? I have been guilty of all of these things.
Let us wake up and seek God with all of our hearts before we find ourselves being crushed by God's love for us.
Matthew 21:44 And he who falls on this Stone will be broken in pieces; but he on whom it falls will be crushed.
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