“Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?” -Jeremiah 15:18.
When was the last time you cried out to God like this? Jeremiah was a lonely social outcast who wanted to be healed and find comfort. Today our cries might be worded slightly differently, but the pain is the same. Our prayers might be like these: God will you ever heal us? God will you make our pain stop? Will you take away this loneliness?
God listens to our prayers. God cares about our hurt. God replies with comfort. Here is how he replied to Jeremiah:
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“If you return, I will restore you,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
20 And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
declares the Lord.
21 I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”
Read those verses again, and this time think of it as a letter written to you from God.
God promises that if we come back to him, he will restore us. God will take away our loneliness. God will protect us from our enemies. God will save us and deliver us. He will redeem us!
Cry out to God. He hears your prayers.
Join me in finding joy in the journey.
