After Baruch had written on a scroll the words Jeremiah was then dictating: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says to you, Baruch: You said, ‘Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.’” The Lord said, “Say this to him: ‘This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.’” (Jeremiah 45 1b-5)
Harsh encouragement this morning I’ve had. Jeremiah 45 must be the shortest chapter in that book and I like it. What I quoted is basically the whole chapter. Baruch was probably overwhelmed by everything Jeremiah was prophesying about the exile and destruction and disasters that were about to happen to Jerusalem and Judah. As he was writing Jeremiah’s words, he was probably so down and desperate, without hope. God knew his heart. In the middle of writing stuff about the city and what was going to happen, all the sudden, the Lord does not speak about these things, but almost directly to Baruch. That’s kind of neat. But God doesn’t have much encouragement for him. Things have to happen that way. That’s it. Don’t even hope for anything good to come to you, all you will keep is your life Baruch.
I don’t know why but I always think that in times of trouble or hardship, God will come to me and grant me comfort, bring me back to the good old days, will provide a way for me to have victory or to be set free from my pain. So when I read that, I thought that God was going to encourage Baruch, to lift him up. It did not happen. Well, I don’t know, it depends how you see it.
God had to deal with the sins of His people, that’s why He could not tell Baruch things would be ok, that He would change His mind and do good to them. Ultimately, God brought peace again. But not right now.
Yes God loves me and wants me to find joy in Him. But at times, He must deal with me in ways that seem to be hard. And at times, seasons of life change and it’s simply tough for my heart, I am like Baruch and don’t want to see what I’m seeing. I want to be somewhere else. I want to be with other people. I want to take life as easy as before. I want to look ahead and have hope because what’s in front of me is exciting and great. But sometimes, God says no, not yet. You must go through this wasteland, I have nothing else for you than Myself. You’ll escape with your life. That’s it.
What an encouragement. It makes me sigh (I was being sarcastic about the encouragement). But since it’s God’s will, then it’s God’s will. Let us be courageous, let us remain faithful even when we don’t understand, when we’re sick of these unanswered prayers. Because deliverance and joy will find us. It will.
BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 12$ as of April 21, 2006
1 comment:
is that funky guitar the one you're using now? hehe
aie aie, about Baruch. What you are saying rings true. It sounds harsh to me and I don't like you having to be like Baruch for awhile, but I think it's consistent with the rest of the Bible. For some reason, God doesn't give us easy ways out.
I like hearing these stories of what God is doing in your life and how he shows his grace in little things too. cool :)
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