Oh the love, mercy, longsuffering, and grace of God!

He tries so hard to draw humans to Himself.

Sometimes He even afflicts them.

“And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD” (Amos 4:6).

In our day, we associate cleanness of teeth with good hygiene and oral care. But the context of this verse leads me to believe that God is talking about famine, hunger, and starvation. Their teeth were clean because they had nothing to eat!

That wasn’t the only affliction God sent their way. The rest of the chapter mentions four others, each time concluding with that same lament: “yet have ye not returned unto me.”

Does every affliction I encounter mean I have wandered from God and He is trying to bring me back to Himself?

No. The lives of Job and Joseph ought to dispel that notion.

But it does seem to me that every “negative” in my life ought to turn my thoughts toward God.