Day 38: Jeremiah 32:17
Devotional
READ JEREMIAH 32:17
Imagine being stuck in jail, your nation in the throes of war, your city surrounded by an impending and ruthless world superpower. Your first thought may not be that the time is ripe to acquire real estate, much less real estate occupied by your enemy! And yet, when you’re watching and listening to God, and He clearly shows you property he’s hand-picked for you, you buy. That’s what Jeremiah has just done. Jeremiah is imprisoned precisely because he has been prophesying the imminent destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, so he’s not wishfully thinking that somehow the tables will turn on this bleak situation. Yet, he obeys without hesitation.
While we may not relate to Jeremiah’s predicament, most of us can relate to the suffocating feeling of unwanted circumstances closing in on us with no escape in sight. Instead of railing against God or crumbling in despair, watch what Jeremiah does. Immediately, we see him pray and cry out, ‘Ah, Lord God!’ He calls God by his name and title, ‘Yahweh Adonai’, his relational ruler. And in Jeremiah’s tiny corner of the world, his situation desolate, he zooms out of his time and place on earth and orients his perspective.
Instead of focusing on his slimmer wallet and doomed parcel of land, he proclaims what God has already done. GOD made the heavens and earth by HIS great power. By GOD’s outstretched arm every corner, parcel, and pocket were made! Every smidgeon of dirt, every dusting of stars. And Jeremiah declares that nothing is too difficult or wonderful for Him! Nothing about Jeremiah’s circumstances make sense. But he focuses on the perspective of Yahweh, “the Existing One”. If the one who existed before time created it all, surely He was in control of it all too. Jeremiah responded quickly to the Lord because he knew Him, watched for Him, and listened to Him.
Oh, that our focus would be on The Existing One who stands outside of time when life closes around us and we can hardly breathe. Nothing is too difficult for Him.
Imagine being stuck in jail, your nation in the throes of war, your city surrounded by an impending and ruthless world superpower. Your first thought may not be that the time is ripe to acquire real estate, much less real estate occupied by your enemy! And yet, when you’re watching and listening to God, and He clearly shows you property he’s hand-picked for you, you buy. That’s what Jeremiah has just done. Jeremiah is imprisoned precisely because he has been prophesying the imminent destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, so he’s not wishfully thinking that somehow the tables will turn on this bleak situation. Yet, he obeys without hesitation.
While we may not relate to Jeremiah’s predicament, most of us can relate to the suffocating feeling of unwanted circumstances closing in on us with no escape in sight. Instead of railing against God or crumbling in despair, watch what Jeremiah does. Immediately, we see him pray and cry out, ‘Ah, Lord God!’ He calls God by his name and title, ‘Yahweh Adonai’, his relational ruler. And in Jeremiah’s tiny corner of the world, his situation desolate, he zooms out of his time and place on earth and orients his perspective.
Instead of focusing on his slimmer wallet and doomed parcel of land, he proclaims what God has already done. GOD made the heavens and earth by HIS great power. By GOD’s outstretched arm every corner, parcel, and pocket were made! Every smidgeon of dirt, every dusting of stars. And Jeremiah declares that nothing is too difficult or wonderful for Him! Nothing about Jeremiah’s circumstances make sense. But he focuses on the perspective of Yahweh, “the Existing One”. If the one who existed before time created it all, surely He was in control of it all too. Jeremiah responded quickly to the Lord because he knew Him, watched for Him, and listened to Him.
Oh, that our focus would be on The Existing One who stands outside of time when life closes around us and we can hardly breathe. Nothing is too difficult for Him.
Personal Reflection
- Do you know, watch, and listen for the Lord? Why or why not?
- How and in what area(s) of your life is God asking you to zoom out and trust Him when you can’t see beyond your moment and place in time?
- Spend time in prayer, asking God to give you His perspective and the faith to trust Him with the things in your life that don’t make sense.
Posted in The Beginning Devotionals
1 Comment
STRONG! When we are pressed, we cry out to the Creator and remind ourselves who is over it all. Thanks for the great challenge Heather.