Obstacles, God's Invitation To Repent

“If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. [Ezekiel 3.20]

What are obstacles? They are God's invitation to repent.

I am going way out on a limb here... I know that untold volumes of books and writings exist that portray obstacles merely as opportunities for God's people to grow stronger or simply understand God's sovereignty, but the Bible does not support this false teaching.

Obstacles are curses. Curses follow sin. Sin requires repentance. Repentance leads to forgiveness. Forgiveness provides blessings.

To twist God's Word to jump straight from obstacles to blessings is to deny sin and the necessity of repentance. And yet, teachings and doctrines abound that promote this fallacy. And "God's people" are none the wiser because they do not know God's Word and therefore do not truly know God. Oh, be sure they know their books and authors well - they are confident that the 'explanations' - religious jargon that masks pride and arrogance - written to subvert the necessity of repentance, but they do not know God's Word, and therefore do not know God's character, and therefore do not know God.

Any religious idea that suggests dealing with obstacles through any other means than repentance is heresy. Such teachings are rife with pride instead of humility.

In fact, Satan is the deliverer of everything related to killing, stealing, and destroying. But instead of proudly pursuing Satan, God's true children will be more effective in humble repentance before God, resting confidently in Him to restore righteousness and the blessings attached to it. Satan's devices (obstacles) are loosed on people's lives when they turn away from their righteous behavior.

I would much rather be in error and repentant than in error and unrepentant (proud).

Please do not console yourself that I am wrong here and the book of Job proves it. The entire book of Job needs to be understood in the light of Job's eventual repentance. Job repented! And, when he finally did, he was restored. Read it.

Father, forgive us for our pride and arrogance when it comes to the obstacles in our lives. May we be found humble and repentant before You so that we might navigate this life on earth in Your power.