Jeremiah 42.9-10 9 and said to them, “Thus says the Lord,
the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before
him: 10 If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull
you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster
that I did to you. (ESV)
Sometimes the Prophet says what we don’t want to hear: Don’t go to Egypt; stay put! That was
what Jeremiah had been preaching for years: submit
to the king of Babylon and all will be well with you. But they didn’t listen
then, and they weren’t listening now: we’re
gonna do what we want to do and we want God to stamp His approval on it.
How many times I have done that: come up with some cockamamie
scheme; or even a good sounding scheme for that matter, and wanted God to stamp
His blessings on my plan: Approved! It doesn’t work that way for the disciple
of Jesus Christ. But oh how I’ve tried. The truth is, I’m trying right now…
It’s a sad moment – a sad day – when we embrace our plans
to the point we desire, and then expect (or demand) God to kowtow to them. What
fools we are. What foolishness we embrace. And we all do it – we all come up
with something and look for God’s approval. It is worth repeating: sometimes
God will say to us: if you insist!
Our plans must be God’s plans if we’re to succeed. That
calls for great humility. We must learn contentment right now where we are if
we’re going to have contentment in the future. Plans do not come first,
contentment does. That’s not to say we can’t think about a preferred future,
but it does mean we approach that preferred future with fear and trembling. If
God offered these people a life of peace and meaning when they’d just been
overrun by Babylon, what was so wrong with that!? Their pride and sin kept them
from embracing it.
One thing I am so slow to accept is God’s control over my
life and circumstances. I keep yearning to go back to the way it used to be;
and the way it used to be was: less God and more me. Funny, I’m not good at the
math when I think of how it used to be: more me = less God and more misery.
Have I not learned a thing?
More God and less me = more contentment, more peace, and
more trust in the One who controls it all anyway. I have embraced a way of life
where I feel I am free to call the shots and I cannot do that anymore – I am
answerable to God and I don’t like it when He says, “If you insist.”
God, grant me contentment in the things I cannot control,
grant me courage to accept Your control; and wisdom to know I will only be content
when I do what You say. I repent again of calling the shots and ask for wisdom
to live a life of humility as I follow You wherever You lead. Amen.
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