PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Jeremiah 45-46
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, for I am with you,” declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 46:28)
Jeremiah is warning Egypt about their impending doom in battle.
When superpowers collide, there are no victors… only lots of victims.
And often the little people are trampled along the way.
In these closing verses Jeremiah encourages the Hebrew refugees in Egypt.
“I will discipline you but only in due measure.” (Jeremiah 46:28)
These are the words of the loving father for the prodigal son (Luke 15).
The father hurts for and longs for their wayward son, but has not abandoned them.
Yet the son will experience the consequences for their decision to leave home.
He will suffer enough to learn that there is no place like home with the father.
The Lord allows us the freedom to choose, and to experience the consequences.
If we choose to live by violence and arrogance (like Egypt), we will fall.
If we choose worldly wealth and comfort, we will learn the hard way how it doesn’t last.
I believe Jesus is constantly calling us to come to him, to find rest in him.
He will not force us, and may discipline us, but only enough to help us learn and return.
PRAYER
Lord, I am feeling your appeal to trust in you and to follow you. Forgive me for my misplaced focus and confidence. Help me to sense that you are still with me!
“Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.” God does care for His people and because He loves us – He does discipline – or better to say – He disciples us. He has gifted us with His presence through the Holy Spirit – so that even as disaster is all around us – I’m thinking of the believers in Ukraine and what they are going through but also as they ‘serve’ each other. May we hear the words of Jeremiah and see them as words of hope in the face of disaster – of aggression – of anxious stress from the rising cost of living! Hold on my soul!