Return to Me

“’I also withheld rain from you, when there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city; I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, and where it did not rain the part withered. So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet you have not returned to me,’ says the Lord. ‘I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, the locust devoured them; yet you have not returned to me,’ says the Lord. ‘I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; your young men I killed with a sword, along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; yet you have not returned to me,’ says the Lord. ‘I overthrew some of you, as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; yet you have not returned to me,’ say the Lord. ‘Therefore, thus will I do to you Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel! For behold, He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth—the Lord God of hosts is His name’” Amos 4:7-13.

This is a rather long passage but worth printing. We have a jaded concept of God’s wrath and bad things happening in our world. And ironically, it’s not always what an outside observer might think.

Throughout history one could easily draw the connection to what we consider bad things happening on this earth and God. After all, if He’s the judge-figure who sits up on the throne of Heaven spending His leisure time condemning people, He’d spend His active time smiting them surely. Particularly in ancient Israel, when bad things happened it was typically, if not practically always, because the Israelites had gone off course, disobeyed God and needed to refocus on serving only Him. It was essentially a jolt of “Hey you, remember me? Yeah, you’re going to need to get back to the straight and narrow or else.” Do good = good earthly blessings; do bad = bad things. But over time and in cases with nations outside of God, this general rule adjusted.

In today’s culture, this occurs sometimes but often we in the church think it rarely the case. Those outside the church may see a smiting God, but those inside the church usually see the Jesus with the lamb on His shoulders. But as the Psalmist lamented over evil men prospering, so we too see this principle lived out today. But what if it still happens much, much more than we realize? He’s the same God, isn’t He?


In the above passage of Amos’ writing, God over and over gave Israel little warnings. But because of their continued disobedience He sent them into destruction and bondage time and time again. What if our world is similar? When a bad thing happens to us like job loss, marriage trouble, a car wreck or something else tragic, what if we first reconciled our hearts to God and sought Him wholeheartedly? It may not be the case, He may not be punishing or correcting you, He may be using you to further make His name known through your pain. But just in case, what if we first, without anger or feelings of betrayal and indignation, first came to God and prostrated ourselves before Him and sought His favor and guidance. Would He relent? I think if you know God and read the scriptures even a little you can answer unquestionably, yes.