When the Going Gets Tough

I don’t know about you, but when things start going south while I’m still going north, I just want to run and hide. I really don’t like difficulties, but when they start to overwhelm, I just want to find a hole to crawl into it, or a cave to hide in.

But what I’ve learned is that these difficulties find me no matter where I try to hide, and the consequences are generally worse than if I had stayed and worked through them.

This was what King Zedekiah and his men found out when the Chaldean army invaded and burst into Jerusalem after a two-year siege.

King Zedekiah and his men left the city at night through a hidden door, but the Chaldeans found out and pursued, caught, and brought them before the King of Babylon. And the consequences were severe.

“They took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment on him. Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. And he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah. He also put out the eyes of Zedekiah… and put him in prison till the day of his death” (Jeremiah 52:9-11).

Afterwards the Babylonians came back to Jerusalem and burned it and temple to the ground taking the rest of the people into captivity. The only ones left were the poor, and they were kept to keep the land productive.

We cannot run from our problems, because if we do the consequences can be severe, not only to ourselves, but also to others.

And while rebellion against God and His word brought Zedekiah to the miserable state, God will always honor confession and repentance.

And so, when problems strike, look to God and what He might be saying. And instead of running and hiding, confess and repent knowing that through Christ we can do all things (Philippians 4:13).