Trusting God through every circumstance of our life is to be our attainment. God wants our complete trust and a belief in Him that His way is best even when our senses are screaming against it.
As we are walking through scarcity, though we are facing a dearth of harvest and in spite of days that are filled with broken and parched land we can still trust the Father’s heart.
Disturbing dilemma
The king of Babylon had come and taken prisoners. There was left in the land of Israel a scattered remnant. Babylon’s king had put a governor in charge of the land of Judah. Jeremiah, when given a choice had chosen to stay in the land of Israel.
The people of Israel that were left have now come to Jeremiah asking him to inquire of God about what they should do. With much affirmation, they promised Jeremiah they would do all that God would have them do. Trusting God was what they intended to do.
After ten days of seeking God, Jeremiah came back to the people with a word from the Lord. The verses in chapter 42 give us with clarity what God wanted the people to do.
Trusting God and His Definite Direction
“Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him; If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Jeremiah 42: 9-12
God wanted them to stay in the land of Israel. He wanted their trust and faithful acknowledgement that God knew best. However, as the leaders looked at the situation, all they perceived was the ravaged farmland the Babylonians had left behind. This spelled to them famine in the years to come. Moreover, they feared the battles that were certain to come with a Babylonian governor installed in their land. A governor that they were sure would crush them completely. As they reflected on their circumstances it added up to parched ground, scarcity, defeat and brokenness.
distorted deduction
Seeing these insurmountable odds they looked to Egypt. As they compared life in Egypt and the life they felt sure they would have to face if they stayed in the land of Israel, the scales tipped in favor of Egypt. In spite of what God had said.
That is to say, looking at their situation through human perspective, all they could envision was the lack that would come through famine and wars. Lack they would have to endure, unless they went down into Egypt.
On the other hand, in Egypt they would be under the protection of the mighty pharaoh. The Nile would be there to provide rich soil which in turn would produce plentiful crops. The peaceful look of the nation called to them. It was Egypt that gave them an assurance for the future because they chose to look at life only through their narrowed vision.
The choice was made without knowing and understanding the depths of who God was. Instead of trusting God they chose Egypt. In spite of promises made by the God who had been found to be stronger then the pharaoh in the past they did not believe. Their trust and belief had a great deficiency.
detrimental decision
As a result of this deficiency, they chose to journey to Egypt. With the journey to Egypt in the past, the people seem to sigh in relief as they saw much food and the peace in the land. However, I’m sure though that to some, the echo of God’s Word came again.
“Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt to sojourn their; Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.” (vs. 15 & 16)
But to all appearances everything was fine. They had the plenty. As well as the peace they longed for. They had left the broken and fruitless land behind. How could anything go wrong with their plan? Nevertheless, just as with any plan that goes against God, it did not last. The end we find just as God had said: hunger and desperation in Egypt, the pharaoh delivered into the hands of his enemies, and then death.
Determined dependence
God had plans for the people of Israel. He had planned to shower them with His mercies, bring fruitfulness back to the land, and bring sure deliverance from Babylon. But for this to come about the people would have had to look beyond what they could see. In other words, they would have had to follow through with their first intention of trusting God.
God wanted them to look to Him and trust that what He said would come to pass in spite of their lack and their brokenness. They needed a trust that God could take even this and bring about abundance.
How many times have we been there? Our circumstances overwhelming, the darkness closing in and our perception of God lacking. In these times we must hold to the God who is unseen, yet still at work. You and I must trust when the way is dark.
Reliance on God in spite of the sure promise of famine and war in the land is where we need to be. Trusting God must be our objective. God whispers, “Fear not, I am with you,” in the midst of our dearth, and in the midst of our brokenness. As He whispers, we must make our choice. To believe our circumstances or to believe the God who is bigger than our circumstances.
Trusting God and His Design
God has plans for us. Plans for good and not evil. His design for us include His mercies and deliverance from the enemies that plague us. God wants whole-hearted trust. He is able to keep the trust we place in Him. He brings beauty and life from the ashes of war and defeat. Yes, we will face wars, we will face devastation. In the midst of it all each one of us can place it in God’s hands with complete confidence that He walks with us.
To sum it up, belief in the unseen God is what we must have. An unswerving acceptance that His Word is true and His promises won’t fail even when life is in seeming contradiction to all He has said. As we walk hand in hand with God, His definite design will be brought to fruition. God is still longing for us to place our whole-hearted trust and belief in Him, in order that He can continue His work in us. Trusting God wherever we may find ourselves at is to be our goal.
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