Isaiah 26:9
“My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.”

In this world, everyone is still connected to God; whether you want to be or not, whether you realize it or not, it’s not our choice, but His. It’s where we are separated from other animals. Our ability to love, to reason, to be compassionat – that “feeling” we get when we see others in pain. That’s God’s presence, in its most minimalistic form, in our lives.

We are making choices every day regarding God. Do we believe or not? Do we obey or not? Do we seek Him or not? Do we care or not? Those choices have consequences. Remember, God is present in our lives because He chooses to be, not because we choose Him or not. He made us, we didn’t make us.

There will come a time when God renders judgement again, like any parent does, on children who are misbehaving. We’ve all been at effect of consequences. Parents have all been at cause of consequences. We know all about them, what pushes the spouse, parent, police, boss, etc. to mete them out. God is no different.

There will come a time when everyone who wants God to go home will get their wish. It’ll be a sad day for many when love, when God, leaves their soul and leaves them to their own devices, leaves them to pursue their own unfettered passions and desires, when survival of the fittest becomes unrestrained survival of the fittest.

That’s one judgement that God will render. As shown in the old testament, there will be others. God steps in when the sinful life is so out of control, so debased, so that we don’t destroy ourselves completely.

As a parent I know that the consequences I mete out need to be done out of love, not anger, even when I am angry at the one who’s about to receive. God does the same. Think about it.

For me (and I fervently pray my family), we will pursue the Lord. Please take a look at the whole picture, the history, the love, and think about what it would be like without it. In life and love, there are consequences, good and bad. Which ones we have to live with all depends on the choices we make.