We are now in the 90’s, weather-wise,
and are observing the anniversary of D Day. Men are telling their stories, and many remember
buddies who did not survive that
invasion. That time sounded the end of the war in Europe. One survivor remembered
more than 200 German soldiers surrendering to his small task force, and to keep
them busy till they could receive orders as to what to do; they had them move
pebbles from one side of the road to the other.
Yet our day and our times are fraught
with misery. These are difficult times
we are living in. And throughout history, Christians have found comfort in the
prophet Jeremiah. His was maybe one of
the most troubling times in the history Of Israel. The decades leading to the
fall of Jerusalem in 587, followed by the Babylonian exile.
It
seemed everything that could go wrong did go wrong. And Jeremiah was God’s
spokesman through it all. God said, “I’ve given you a job to do. . .it is to
pull up and tear down, take apart and demolish, and then start over, building and
planting”. 1,11
Jeremiah
had pulled back, hesitated to assume the
task, and God said to him: “Don’t say, ‘I am only a boy.’ I’ll tell you where
to go and you’ll go there. I’ll tell you what to say, and you’ll say it. Don’t
be afraid of a soul. I’ll be right there, looking after you.” Jer. 1,7.8
His
days were filled with anxiety. Yet he was faithful and trusted that God knew
exactly what He was doing and what was going to happen.
When
we consider the days in which we are living, we must often wonder. Yesterday a
headline in the newspaper read, ”Heroin surge here stuns DEA”. And another
article details how our area is leading in selling young girls into slavery. Still
another article informs us a convicted murderer has been released because of
some quirk in the law.
We need to hear Jeremiah again because our days are troubling. In such times we need to hear from one who lived through it, and survived with grace.
So
Christians find Jeremiah comforting to read, because he did, and lived to tell
us.
May
God give insight and wisdom and strength
as we study this book.
6/7/14
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