"Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble." (Jeremiah 11:11-12)
I just had a few brief thoughts about this passage I wanted to share. It struck me some time after I read this, when I was journaling about it, that we display some traits that the Israelites had. They were stubborn. We, too, can be stubborn sometimes—especially when it concerns something going the way we envisioned it. They followed other gods. While we may not be worshipping physical "gods" in the place of God, if we pursue something (a hobby, sport, etc) more than we are pursuing God or developing a closer relationship with Him, then that thing *fill in the blank* is probably becoming an idol. They cried to God, but only in deep trouble. This is where I saw the similarities so clearly. Why is it this way? Why is it that in the good times we feel like we don't need to pray as much, and in times of deep trouble (and usually as a last resort) we cry out to Him? Why is prayer the last resort? I'm sure you all have experienced this; I know I have. We try to tinker with the problem ourselves, trying to fix it with our feeble and fallible tools. They're useless. Prayer is--and should be--our first tool when it comes to fixing problems in our lives. As James puts it, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16b) When we pray first, we are as it were surrendering our feeble tools for those strong and successful tools our Lord Jesus possesses. Not only that, but guess what, friends? He is praying with you AND He's praying for you. . . that your faith wouldn't fail. (see Luke 22:32) I encourage all of us to exercise this privilege we have of coming to the Father with our problems, and surrendering them to His almighty hand. . . First.
1 Comment
Debra Jenkins
4/23/2021 05:38:33 am
Carolyn,
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AuthorHi! I'm Carolyn, a writer seeking to glorify God with my words. Archives
February 2024
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