12. So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas.
Evil: A Creation of God or Man?
People often ask two questions concerning God, “Did God create evil?” and “Why does God allow evil to happen?” In a single sentence, Psalm 81:12 answers both questions, revealing that God neither created evil nor condones it. God did create spiritual beings that introduced evil into the world—and they are still the influence behind evil today. God has however, given free will to believers and nonbelievers alike, and He will not force His will upon either.
At the risk of accepting responsibility for our own actions, we must acknowledge that mankind creates the most abominable ways of doing evil, and we also accept, normalize, and condone the evil that is contrary to the righteousness of God. Whether in thought, word, or deed, our current generation has become less inclined to the ideas of godly living, leaning instead on our own understanding and desires of the flesh.
God Disciplines to Correct the Lost
God has always allowed mankind to follow its desires. For the individual child of God, His discipline becomes the method to bring the lost soul back into alignment with Him. But with the hardened heart, discipline is ignored and dismissed, often as mere bad luck or proof that God does not exist. This prompts “Why me?” reactions, turning self-inflicted wounds into excuses to question God. The proud heart may never recognize God’s calls. Pride becomes a guard against pain, making a person judgmental of others as a way to deflect from their own shortcomings and misfortunes—pacifying themselves instead of repenting. Godly discipline should not be shunned but embraced. Hebrews 12:10 reminds us: “For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.”
God’s desire is for His children to walk in His ways. When we do He blesses us with the desires of our hearts, protects us from the evil that lurks, and calms us with His peace. Yet sometimes things beyond our control will happen, leaving us without understanding. The righteous will suffer many afflictions in this fallen world, but God promises to deliver the righteous (Psalm 34:19). His blessings, promises, and protections are not blocked by earthly circumstances—only by hearts that are hardened against Him. Humble hearts hear and respond to God’s calls, a proud heart remains blind to discipline, resists correction, and forfeits the protection God wants to provide.
Consequences and the Teachings of the Old Testament
By allowing us to follow the desires of our flesh, God is showing us the consequences of our choices that align with the world rather than His ways. For the devout follower, it can be confusing when those with little to no desire to follow Christ—even those who claim to be Christians—seem to suffer few consequences for their actions, no matter how unholy their lives appear. It can be disheartening to watch greed and evil thrive when many believers are barely making ends meet. For parents who raise their children to keep God in their hearts, when they drift from Him as they grow it can be devastating to the child-parent relationship, while also leading to a life of misfortune in the child’s adult years.
These are circumstances in life that require Scripture to be rooted deeply in the believers heart so that faith to remains steadfast, and to understand that nothing goes unnoticed by God. To know Scripture is to know God, and it is the only way to build a relationship with Him. We learn from the Old Testament how often God was grieved when repeatedly rejected by His own people. Judges 21:25 tells us: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Repeatedly, God’s people chose other gods over Him, even participating in pagan rituals and sacrifices. Not even the warnings of God’s prophets were enough to break their hardened hearts—instead, the prophets were rejected and often killed. To discipline His children, God allowed them to be taken captive by the very enemies they chose to emulate, each time resulting in the Israelites crying out to God in repentance asking for forgiveness. This is the same response God wants from His children today—to recognize our sins against Him, and to repent and ask for forgiveness.
The Deceitfulness of Sin
Life today is not much different from the days of the Old Testament. Hearts are still hardened, and the lust of the flesh exposes more than sexual immorality. Drug use is no longer seen as witchcraft, as described in the Bible. The word translated as ‘witchcraft’ is pharmakeia in the Greek. Pharmakeia originates from pharmakon which means drug, medicine, or potion. It is also where the English word pharmacy derives. In the Bible witchcraft is used to illustrate mind-altering substances used in rituals. Scripture reveals this in 1 Samuel 28:3-25, when King Saul enlisted the Witch of Endor to conjure the spirit of the prophet Samuel. Mind altering substances are a gateway to spiritual deception and loss of self-control. Even where ritual is not involved, the practice is still ungodly. Today, drug use, along with drinking in excess has become a cultural norm, expanding on an already ungodly society.
Thoughts and criticisms are rarely measured against God’s holy standards. Judgment is reserved for others, but rarely applied to one’s own life—the very self-examination Scripture calls us to make. People continue to do what is right in their own eyes. With today’s technology and the ease of travel, access to sin is greater than ever. To discipline a child is to risk accusations of abuse, and discipline from God is often dismissed as circumstances beyond one’s control—and for the cynical mind, even God’s will. For these very reasons, just as He did with Israel, God has handed stubborn hearts over to their own desires.
God’s Mercy is Always Near
Just as God never gave up on Israel, He has not given up on His children today. The same merciful heart that reached out to Israel in Psalm 81:13—”Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways“—is the same merciful heart with which He reaches out to us today. God speaks through convictions of the Holy Spirit. He is just as close to us as He was with Israel in antiquity. Jesus, in the first century, expressed this same pain and mercy when He cried out in Matthew 23:37: “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” From the Old Testament to the New Testament, and even into our modern world, God has always struggled with the stubbornness of the human heart.
Allow God’s merciful discipline to align your heart with His. Fear not the shedding of relationships, habits, and misguided teachings handed down through generations. Instead, dare to come boldly, seeking new understandings that reveal you to be the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), removing the barriers that block blessings and rewards God desires to pour into your life.
The Loving Discipline of a Merciful God
Job 5:17
“Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.”
Proverbs 3:12
“For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the child in whom he delights.”
Hebrews 3:13
“You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.”
2 Corinthians 11:14
“For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”
Psalm 103:8-10
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always contend with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our guilty deeds.”
A Prayer for God’s Merciful Discipline
Father God in Heaven, my faith has stayed in you, although my heart has swayed far from You at times. The desires of my flesh scream louder than the groaning of Your Spirit when I am weak. Correct my path, gently cure my thirst with Your living Word, that it may go well with me, and that worldly pain turns into spiritual pleasure. In the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
Trinitarian Benediction
As you navigate this fallen world, may your heart welcome the loving mercy of God.
May the outstretched arms of the Lord Jesus Christ embrace and protect you.
And may the Holy Spirit guide you toward the light that overcomes all darkness.