Overlooking Personal Disobedience

God Confronts (2:17)

• When God fails to meet our expectations in how He responds to others, we set our opinions over His judgments.
• There’s a difference between questioning God’s methods and criticizing them.

God Comes (3:1)

• The fact that God had to send a messenger to clear the path revealed that His people hadn’t removed every hindrance to encounter Him.
• God’s people longed for a King to conquer outsiders, but instead, Jesus came as Lord to confront insiders.

God Purifies (3:2-4)

• The people were too unclean to stand before the Lord, so He cleansed them Himself.
• The Refiner’s job is incomplete until the filth is burned away, and His reflection is restored through the fire.

God Testifies (3:5)

• Every sin will be accounted for, and every sinner will be dealt with in God’s perfect timing.
• We often want God to confront the sins around us but not the sins within us.
• God, forgive me for the disgust I have for others’ sins while attempting to justify my own wretched disobedience.