Don't Get Hooked

[S] 2 Chronicles 33:11 --
11 Therefore the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.
(NIV)  So the lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

[O] When Manasseh rejected God's message, he was humiliated by putting a hook in his nose and led away to Babylon.  He later repents and God restores him back to Jerusalem.

[A] If I can only learn without experiencing consequences (of my bad decisions) I would enjoy my life more and spend more of my time to do God's will.  In order to do that, I must gain God's messages for me so I may obey them each time I discern them.

[P] Dear Father, more so than the fact that I don't want to be humiliated by not following God's will for me, I really want to please You by obeying Your words for my life.  Please reveal them deep in my heart so that I will walk the path You desire for me.  I am praying right now about what that path is for me at this juncture.  Please give me the discernment through Your word.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Not Why but How

[S] Ezekiel 32:15 --
    ¹⁵"When I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
         And the land is destitute of that which filled it,
         When I smite all those who live in it,
         Then they shall know that I am the LORD.

[O] These chapters of Ezekiel is pretty depressing to read because of the wrath of God coming upon the Israelites.  Talk about bad things happening in life, this is pretty bad and I'd think they were wondering why all this was happening to them.  This verse seems to spell out the reason for it:  They shall know that He is the Lord.  God does list the reasons for why they deserve such consequences but more importantly God is actually not too interested in His people to analyze the "why's" but how they will respond to such conditions they are facing.  He wants them to turn from their old ways and return to Him by acknowledging He is their Lord and God.

[A] Similarly, when bad things take place in my own life, instead of pondering on what if I did this or that to avoid them (which I should do in order to learn from my mistakes but not dwell on it too much), I should focus more on how I need to adjust my life in order to draw closer to Him through such conditional reminders from God and acknowledge Him as my Lord and God even more and make a firmer commitment to follow closer to Him going forward.

[P] Father, You said you do not enjoy being the "bad cop" but You simply desire for me to return to You every time I fall short.  Thank You so much for such an abundant grace and care for my life to help me to walk upright in You even through my failures to follow You closely.  May my life mature to make You look good as I go through these steps of refining.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.