It Can Happen To Me

It can happen to me.  Time and time again in Scripture, we are called to vigilance.  This not only means for us to pay attention to what is happening around us, but to be aware that we, too, are vulnerable and can fall.  This should draw us closer to God as He is our refuge, and in Him alone is our strength.  In our reading today, we see that the Israelites would become vulnerable to the enemy because they would not serve the Lord with joy and a cheerful heart, even though God had given them everything in abundance (Deuteronomy 28:47).  Therefore, they would serve their enemies.  Notice the description of those who would fall and succumb to difficulties before them.  We read, “The most sensitive and refined man among you will look grudgingly at his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children, refusing to share with any of them his children’s flesh that he will eat because he has nothing left during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you in all your towns” (Deuteronomy 28:54-55).  While this is an extreme, graphic description of events, we must be aware that extreme circumstances can cause the most refined, if not careful and vigilant, to act in unexpected ways.  First, we must learn to serve the Lord with joy, for He is good!  Second, we must learn to trust in God, and be ready to seek His face and lean on Him in the most difficult circumstances, so that we might finish this race well.