Thursday - 1st Week in OT 2018 - Why does God allow us to be defeated?

I saw a sign on the side of the road the other day and it said something like: “Everything happens for a reason, but sometimes the reason is that you don’t think things through and make bad decisions.”

In their campaign to claim the land of Canaan as their divine inheritance, Israel for the most part had driven out or made peace with the Canaanites. The Philistines however remained a formidable enemy. As we heard in the reading today, when it came time to face the Philistines in battle, Israel was surprised that they lost the battle.

They ask themselves, “Why did God let this happen to us? Why did he let us suffer defeat?” Maybe, we’ve asked similar question: in a time of national or family tragedy, a serious illness, an ongoing hardship, “why is this happening to me?”

But, Notice how the Israelites  didn’t ask God that question, they ask themselves. They ruminate about their suffering, their loss, instead of bringing their suffering to God. They keep God at a distance, as an abstraction.

And then the Israelite elders decided to do something very foolish. They decide to battle the Philistines again, but this time they will take the Ark of the Covenant with them. Now again, God is an afterthought, and instead of attempting to discern God’s will on this matter, they hijack the ark from the Priests, and they bring the ark into battle, not out of faith, but as a magical totem.

Now the Philistines were initially intimidated by the presence of the Ark. They had heard how the God of Israel had brought victory to His people in the past. But, the Philistines mustered themselves, and they defeated Israel seven times worse than in the first battle.

Why did God allow this to happen? Likely, to teach Israel to rely not on their own wits and strengths, but on Him. To discern His will and act upon it, always. At this point in history, too, Israel is steeped in sin and pride. Just, look at their irreverence and mistreatment of the Holy Ark.  If, as individuals, as a nation, or as a local Christian community, live in sin and foolishness and error, we will suffer the consequences, that our pride may be humbled.

Not a popular message, but an important one: to seek not our own will, to attempt, not to bribe or manipulate God for our own purposes, to not make God's will an afterthought, but to seek first the kingdom of God, to seek the cure for the leprosy of sin, as we heard about in the Gospel, that we may be redeemed by God’s mercy and walk in his ways of righteousness, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - -

To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of nee, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief.

For ourselves and our own community, that the Lord may graciously receive us as a sacrifice acceptable to himself.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.