hope

Ezekiel 31:1-18; Jeremiah 32:1-33:26

After the northern ten tribes of Israel were carted off in captivity to the Assyrians, after the Babylonians had punched Jerusalem in the face and walked off with a whole bunch of folks, and while the Babylonians were assaulting Jerusalem in round two, the prophet Jeremiah prays these words:

32:17 "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. 18 You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the fathers' sins into the laps of their children after them. O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty, 19 great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to all the ways of men; you reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve. 20 You performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, both in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. 21 You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror. 22 You gave them this land you had sworn to give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law; they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster upon them.

Especially in the midst of trials and testing times, we must focus on the character of God, for in Him we find hope.  Not only that, but we find that while He is perfectly just and righteous in all of His decisions, He is also simultaneously infinitely merciful and loving.

32:36 "You are saying about this city, 'By the sword, famine and plague it will be handed over to the king of Babylon'; but this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.

There is theme common to all humanity that God promises explicitly through the prophet Jeremiah:

33:2 "This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: 3 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, you are the sovereign creator and sustainer of the universe; nothing is too hard for you!  Lord, I trust you with my life, and I pray that you will be my God.  Please give me singleness of heart and action to love you only and worship you with my life.  Please teach me to fear you and extend your blessings on me to my family and friends and everyone I come in contact with.  Please fill me with your Holy Spirit that I would be an ambassador of Christ today.  I pray in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.