Faith-Forward.Org
 

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Next     Previous     Today

Great and Unsearchable Things

"Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3).

This word of the Lord came at a time when Jerusalem and it's temple had been destroyed, the people of Israel had by-and-large been taken to foreign lands, and Jeremiah found himself imprisoned.  And it is a simple word, "call to me . . ."

When things are desperate in our lives, we find it very easy to cry out to God.  Maybe because we are faced with the reality that we need him and truth be told, if God doesn't come to our rescue, we have no idea what to do or how we will survive.  It is so important that we recognize how amazing God is!  He doesn't mind bailing us out and invites us to take advantage of his services!  Wow!  And, in the same way that this word went out to Jeremiah in desperate times, God says today, I know your situation but I am above and beyond it, so don't hesitate to call to me.  I will answer you.

We could all learn a couple of things here.  First, why do we insist on trying our own way first?  Why do I do that so often?  Is that not what always gets us into the situation in which we are forced to cry out for God's help?  He wants us to learn from mistakes that we have made in the past and recognize that his way right from the first would always be better.  Why not avoid trouble altogether?

A second thing, and I don't know why this is such a hard lesson for most of us, is to learn to become people who "call to me" at all times and even when things are not rough.  What do we do when everything is good?  Have we learned to praise him for all that he has done at all times?  When things are going well, what would happen if we would press in in prayer with the same passion that we have in desperate times?  God would be able to take us to the next level and the next.  "Call to me and I will answer you" is an invitation and a promise that embraces all of life.

Like marriage vows, God's partnering with us is meant to be at all times, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, etc.  He desires a relationship with us that shares deeply in all the times of our lives.  So, if it is particularly difficult today, call out to me and I will answer you.  If you are pursuing your own way out or contemplating doing so, call out to me and I will answer you.  If life couldn't get any better at the moment, call out to me and I will answer you.  Wherever life has taken us and wherever it is headed, God longs to be a part of it with you.

Wherever you are right now, God wants to take you beyond.  His plans are to give us a hope and a future.  His plans are that we grow more and more intimate in our relationship with him (see the July 9th challenge).  He is the God "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work in us" (Ephesians 3:20).  How do we tap in to that?  It is simple.  He says, "Call to me."

His invitation is "call to me."  Talk to him.  He wants to hear from us.  "And I will answer you," he says.  He is there waiting.  He doesn't use an answering machine.  He won't interrupt your call to take another.  He won't put you on hold.  And you will never get a busy signal.  It may take some doing on our part to get us to the place where we make the call.  Whatever you need to do, call him.

"Hello," he says, "It's me.  I love you!  I was hoping you would call.  It's great to hear your voice.  I have missed you.  And I have great and unsearchable things to tell you!  Is now a good time?"

Next     Previous     Today