OK…this is awesome! I had this thought in my quiet time yesterday—that God can be a pain in the butt to those who are most opposed to Him…that you do not have to fight His battles…that He’s a really big God and can take care of Himself. This all came from I Samuel 5:1-12.
See, here is what happened…the Israelites were getting their rear-ends kicked all over the place by the Philistines. SO…they had this idea, “Let’s take the Ark of the Covenant into battle—then we will win.” (Basically they were attempting to use God as a good luck charm—which always turns out bad!)
Well—they lost—BAD…and the ark was captured. End of story, right? I mean, the Israelites, God’s chosen people had not only been defeated…but the one object that represented the presence of God had been taken from them. It seemed that God had been soundly defeated by the pagans…and all hope was lost.
Keep in mind that the Israelites continued to go on with their daily lives…trying to get over the fact that God had been taken from them. Meanwhile in Asdod the Philistines put the Ark in front of their “god” and the next morning their god had fallen on its face in front of the ark. And so they put their god back on the wall…and the next day it fell—arms and legs coming completely off. (Hmm…God was at work, proving to the pagans that He was the one TRUE God…and the Israelites were unaware.)
Then—and this is FUNNY—the Bible says in I Samuel 5:6 that the Philistines were effected with tumors. The footnote in my Bible says, “tumors in the groin.” Actually—most scholars actually agree that these “tumors” were hemorrhoids. OUCH!!!
So the Israelites are freaking out about how God has been taken away…all the while God is doing a work that they are unaware of—and all of the Philistines are running around trying to find some Preparation H. So…the people in Asdod sent the Ark to Gath…and the Bible says in I Samuel 5:9 that God struck that city with Hemorrhoids as well. (You’ve GOT to think He was smiling during all of this!)
Finally they sent the Ark back to the Israelites—they had endured enough—God had literally been a major pain in the butt to all of them…and they definitely got the point.
What does this mean for us today?
Some reading this may have friends or family members who are far from God—and they think that there is no way that they will ever come to Christ. My advice—pray for God to begin to do undeniable things in their life. He did among the Philistines…they could have tried to dismiss what was going on…but God would NOT be ignored…and one can only withstand so much burning and itching! (God ALWAYS knows EXACTLY where to hit us & get our attention!!!)
There have been several times I have prayed, “Jesus, only YOU can get their attention…hit them where it hurts—rock their world…and then give me the opportunity to share with them when they are the most receptive to You.” Don’t get me wrong…I have never literally prayed for God to strike someone with “tumors in the groin.” How He chooses to do this is up to Him…but I have seen first hand that often times pain is a tool that God uses to draw people to Himself.
Pray for God to get their attention…and be aware that He is probably already at work in some way in their life…God often works in ways that we cannot see…just like the Israelites could not see this. So—pray hard and BE THERE when this person comes to you to discuss the “pain and discomfort” in their lives.
We can’t always see God at work—but we can know that right now He is at work at and around that person that we care about the most—and we should pray and partner with Him to do all that we can to make that person aware of who Jesus is. And trust me—when a person is in pain—they will listen!!!