How does our disobedience to God hurt us?

Deuteronomy 1:43-45“This is what I told you, but you would not listen. Instead, you again rebelled against the Lord’s command and arrogantly went into the hill country to fight. But the Amorites who lived there came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased and battered you. . . . Then you returned and wept before the Lord, but he refused to listen.”

Deuteronomy 3:26“But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he would not listen to me. ‘That’s enough!’ he declared. ‘Speak of it no more.’”

2 Samuel 22:27, 41-42“To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. . . . You placed my foot on their necks. I have destroyed all who hated me. They looked for help, but no one came to their rescue. They even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer.”

Jeremiah 11:10-11“They have returned to the sins of their ancestors. They have refused to listen to me and are worshiping other gods. Israel and Judah have both broken the covenant I made with their ancestors. Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am going to bring calamity upon them, and they will not escape. Though they beg for mercy, I will not listen to their cries.”

Lamentations 3:8, 39-44Though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers. . . . Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? . . . Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, “We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us.”

Micah 3:4“Then you beg the Lord for help in times of trouble! Do you really expect him to answer? After all the evil you have done, he won’t even look at you!”

Disobedience to God hinders prayer.

Hosea 4:16“Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the Lord feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture?”

Disobedience to God separates us from God’s guidance.

1 Timothy 1:18-20Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles. Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples. I threw them out and handed them over to Satan so they might learn not to blaspheme God.

A pattern of deliberately disobeying God renders us unable to hold true to our faith.

Ezekiel 20:13-17“But the people of Israel rebelled against me, and they refused to obey my decrees there in the wilderness. They wouldn’t obey my regulations even though obedience would have given them life. They also violated my Sabbath days. So I threatened to pour out my fury on them, and I made plans to utterly consume them in the wilderness. But again I held back in order to protect the honor of my name before the nations who had seen my power in bringing Israel out of Egypt. But I took a solemn oath against them in the wilderness. I swore I would not bring them into the land I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful place on earth.”

Disobedience to God forfeits God’s best for us.

Numbers 20:12The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”

Disobedience to God limits our future opportunities.

Titus 1:16Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

A lifestyle of disobedience renders us ineffective for doing anything good.