While he was still confined in the guard’s courtyard, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time: “The LORD who made the earth, the LORD who forms it to establish it, the LORD is His name, says this: Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and wondrous things you do not know.”
Jeremiah was locked up in a prison cell. He was there because he faithfully declared the message of the Lord—a message the king did not like.
I am sure he felt lonely... isolated… cut off. He may have even felt betrayed—he had spoken God’s message and look where it landed him! Had the Lord abandoned him? He may have been struggling with some doubts. You know the devil came to him and said, “You’re here because God doesn’t love you. He doesn’t care about you. He can’t help you. He’s not strong enough. Why, He may not even exist!”
Does this sound familiar to you? You might say, “Yeah, I’ve been there!”
Maybe you’re there right now.
Has God abandoned you? Has He forgotten about you? Are you there because God cannot do anything about your situation? Or maybe He does not really care about you?
Watch what happens. The LORD spoke to Jeremiah. He needed that! Listen to what the LORD said, “I am the LORD who made everything.” He reminds Jeremiah, “I’m a BIG God! I can handle anything—even your little predicament.”
Then he says—and this is the most precious thing of all—“Call on Me and I will show you great and wondrous things you don’t know.”
“I’ll tell you a secret. I’ll lay it all out for you.”
Isn’t that amazing? Like to get some of that?
It comes in the same place—in the prison!
God reveals His secrets to His friends, those He can trust to be faithful with the information. It’s not an easy life. It is sometimes very hard. The rewards are not convertibles and condos at the beach. The reward is a more intimate relationship with Him. The reward is to hear His secrets… to hear His heart. The reward is power with God.
You can have what you want. What do you want: an easy existence or a closer relationship?
What sounds really good is hearing the secrets while at a condo at the beach...
ReplyDeletehappy 4th.
Sure, He'll tell us secrets at a condo on the beach. :-) But it only happens when our relationship with Him is close enough that He can still get our attention when we're "full" of blessings... often not easy! And this kind of relationship is built from lots of time in the isolation of the prayer closet. It's founded on the times of sorrow we've spent surrendered at His feet, grieving in His arms, tears like dross falling from our souls. It happens when we don't understand the circumstances, but we choose to trust God in the midst of them. The purification process is painful... and priceless beyond measure. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
ReplyDeleteOf course, I realize you were just being light and humorous, vmacmc; and I, too, got a smile from your comment. It's just that the topic is important. What we believe about the significance of hardship in our lives will determine what happens to our faith when the going gets rough... when we find ourselves shipwrecked with Paul or on the run with David or in Jeremiah's prison.