The saying is familiar, “If I had a nickel for every time …. ” yup, I’d be rich. This is true, as I find myself saying for the tenth time, “I don’t know anything anymore. I don’t have any answers.” And that was ten times in the same conversation.
I sit thinking about my lack of answers, and the thought begins to turn in my head, so I open to read the words I need as a reminder:
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13, NKJV)
These are the words from the prophet Jeremiah written to the exiles in Babylon. He writes to tell them how to behave in their new land, a land with different laws and expectations. He knew God’s people were going to have a hard time adjusting to living in a pagan society.
The laws and thinking in this new land would attempt to give the people false hope, but no guarantee that life would return to normal or get any better.
To encourage the people, he reminds them to hold onto the one hope they had – their God, and this encourages me today.
These days we are living are not what we are familiar with, nor are they comfortable. But Jeremiah is reminding us today that if we look for God with our whole hearts, we will find Him.
We will find Him in the midst of a pandemic, in the midst of changing guidelines and restrictions, in the midst of economic difficulties, and in the midst of racial tensions.
He will be found as we seek for Him wholeheartedly.
“The important thing wasn’t what happened to the people in the land but what the exiles would do with the Word of God. If they obeyed God, He would work out His purposes and bless them.”
(Wiersbe Study Bible, page 1119)
Jeremiah is reminding me today that God is waiting to be found by His people and that He can be found in the darkest of days – if we but seek for Him.
“All of my hope,
Is in the name,
The name of Jesus.”
(Jon Reddick)
What a timely post, Joanne. We are in desperate need of hope today. Of course, we find it in God. We need to seek only Him.
Our church has been reading through first the major and now the minor prophets. Some of them describe truly horrific conditions, but each one includes hope for those who turn to God. It’s my prayer that people will turn to Him amid all the troubles in these days.
Barbara, it is interesting how God’s people go in a cycle of turning to God in difficulties, and turning away in good times. And I fear, we are no different. The prophets have much to teach us. May our hearts not only turn to Him but remain faithful to Him for all of our days.