Disaster will come upon us when we turn away from God. He told us so in Judges as I wrote. But the LORD will not abandon us in that time. He will be with us waiting for our return. He will not make it easy. He may even allow us good things as He has given us free will to choose for ourselves. But He will be there with us waiting on our return to Him because He knows our heart.

It is not just God who will see that we have turned from Him. Others will see it as well. There will be noticed differences in our life and the world around us. In just a first pass, it may not be seen, but the continued separation from God will be noticed as disaster continue to strike day after day.

“⁸And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’” – 1 Kings 9:8 (ESV)

God gives us great things as He did with Solomon and the building of the temple. Those great things will continue to be there as we continue to be with the LORD and are following Him and His commandments in our lives. Yet, when we fall away from Him, those great things will begin to deteriorate. Those things will no longer be great as they were meant for the LORD and His people. As the people fall away the great things do the same.

“⁹Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’” – 1 Kings 9:9 (ESV)

And those passing by will know the reason for the disaster befalling us. Those around us know who we are. They know where we have been and where our allegiance is. They know that we follow the One True God and then will know when our following has waned. They will see our lack of dependence on the LORD. They will see how we have found another to worship. They will see that our allegiance has shifted. And they will see how it has impacted us. They will see the disaster in our lives. They will see that we are struggling. They will see that we are in need. And they will know where we should go to get back.

Remember that the LORD does not abandon us. Even as we have fallen away from Him and disaster has come upon us. He is steady waiting on us to turn back to Him. He has allowed disaster to befall us and yes, things have gotten pretty bad. Our lives may be in ruin, but remember that the LORD delivers His people. Remember the love He has for us. Remember that He gets the most from the least and know that He is just waiting to again get the most out us. Others know, we only need to look at ourselves to see where we are in relation to the LORD.

Where are you in relation to the LORD? Do you see the disaster in your life? What if you were to turn back to the LORD and allow Him to restore you?