Just Trust....And Keep Going

Jeremiah 12:4-5 -  How long must this land weep? Even the grass in the fields has withered. The wild animals and birds have disappeared because of the evil in the land. Yet the people say, "The LORD won't do anything!"  Then the LORD replied to me, "If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?

 

Jeremiah took a bit of his time with God to ask the age old question why? He was frustrated with the concept of justice…not understanding why God didn’t just do away with all the evil in the world…why he wouldn’t do anything to help the few righteous people that cried out to him. He wanted to know why his preaching had not been effective…and even made the people hate him.

 

God answered Jeremiah’s question with a question. He asked Jeremiah how he was going to make it when things got worse.  God wanted to know where Jeremiah was putting his faith….and trust. He just told Jeremiah that things had to get worse….before they could get better….that even his family was going to turn against him.

 

I am sure that is not the answer that Jeremiah expected from God. Jeremiah wanted to be comforted… to know a piece of the puzzle that lay ahead…to have God confirm him with some earthly form of success.  But what Jeremiah got was a request from God to trust him….to be patient….to just keep being obedient.

 

God wanted Jeremiah to trust him even though he had given him no answers. God wanted Jeremiah to claim Isaiah 40:31…..to run and not get weary…to walk and not faint….to use God’s power and wings like eagles to gain strength to finish the very hard task that God had given him to do.

 

God might as well have been talking to me this morning.  I am such a quitter. I ask why…and not to always help me understand. Deep down my questions of why are because I want to see just how hard the road is going to be ahead.  Maybe on some level I want to prepare myself…but I have to be honest…it’s really because I get impatient…and lack faith. I sure haven’t claimed the power Isaiah was talking about…I let my humanness…my selfishness…take over and stop walking at all.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need more faith and trust.  Forgive me for the times that I have felt too tired to go on…and stopped to rest for a while. Thank you for not letting me rest too long…for sending someone….or a passage from your Bible to get me back on my feet. Help me to mount up with those wings that Isaiah was talking about….so I can learn to use your power when my strength is gone. Amen.