Judges 2

And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. v.18

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The Lord had pity on the oppression of His people and would raise up judges to save them.  Yet this did not make the people turn to the Lord unfortunately, they would become worse and worse.  The Lord continued to deliver them because of the righteous judge He raised up, but once they died Israel would become defeated again.  How similar it seems to people that take for granted a leader or boss in their life that they don't realize how great they are till they're gone and things become harder than one ever realizes.  This groaning of oppression drove the to cry out to God although when He sent someone to save them, they refused.  Their hearts were what needed saving more than their actual physical distress.  Nancy DeMoss Walgomuth notes on Judges chapter two:
 "God sends these delivers to save His people. The Old Testament Hebrew word for “to save,” is the word yashah. It means "to be saved, to be delivered, liberated." Sometimes it refers to military victories, to be saved in battle. The word yashah is related to the Old Testament name, Joshua, which means “Jehovah saves.”We learned earlier in this series that “Jesus” is the Greek form of that Hebrew name, Joshua. Jesus, who saves His people from their sins—yashah—God saved His people. Salvation is the greatest need of the human heart. We think we have lots of needs, and we do, but the greatest need is for salvation."

Distress may be the very thing that makes you turn to Christ.  How will you respond to His answer of salvation?