The Heart – Jeremiah 29:10-14

As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.”  — God’s Decree. — “I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you” — God’s Decree — “I’ll bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.

Can a Christian take Jeremiah at his word that God will not abandon him and that he has plans of a hopeful future for him? Absolutely. Is it right for a Christian to anticipate these blessings because of the intensity of their searching and prayer? No. Jeremiah is speaking to Israel – a nation under a different covenant, with a specific calling and with specific transgressions. We are not Israel and we have not been exiled.

Why would we claim old conditional promises when the ones we have in the New Covenant are far superior? This passage implies we are estranged from God when in fact we have been reconciled to him and have access into the holiest place in-Christ. Far from being abandoned because of our deficient fervor, we have been seated with Christ in heavenly realms because of his efforts in seeking us. While Jeremiah’s words imply distance between God and his people, those who have believed and repented have been grafted inseparably into Christ. Zero distance. This is the good news!

These old testament promises, contingent on man’s stony-hearted performance are inferior to the New Testament’s promise of life. Jesus, who is our life, is a gift independent of all effort, however whole-hearted it might be. Sadly, our flesh seems to have a default-religious setting that insists on self-dependence instead of Christ-dependence. The consequence is religion which is both tragic and comical.

It leads us to pray prayers and sing songs in a spirit of desperation. We plead with God to draw near to us while, in that very moment, he is dwelling in us. While we are begging him to come, he is asking, “What gave you the impression I left?” It is no wonder we burn out. We spend massive amounts of energy and resources trying to purchase what we already own. God does not want us going backward, entangling ourselves in an outdated covenant. He could not have made this any clearer to me.

It was the turn of the century and I was in my weeping prophet phase of spirituality. In pitch darkness I ascended the grassy knoll. This was just one of the many lonely places I had found where I offered up my petitions (and perhaps a few modest complaints). On this particular night, I was ratcheting up my seriousness, asking if, as my reward, he would please reveal himself to me and restore the joy of my salvation, “Lord. please do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me!” I was doing some serious Jeremiah-style pleading and I believed my impassioned prayers would surely end my (somewhat undeserved) exile from God. “Lord, rain down your Spirit on me!”… And the Lord, he did smile.

As I was praying, I heard something below and I felt the earth literally tremble beneath my feet. My prayers had reached such a crescendo it would not have surprised me if a burning bush would have appeared! As I was listening intently for the long awaited (and I might add, deserved) word from God, I was assailed, not by the rain of His Spirit from above but by the RainBird below. (I live next to golf course) I was lifted off the ground by a jet of water that had to be 1000 psi. I was standing directly over (as in straddling) a sprinkler head. I was so shocked and disoriented I did not escape its aim before I was drenched. It was as though its machine gun bursts were trained on me whichever way I moved. The heat of my passion had been extinguished and, to make matters worse, I knew who it was who had such excellent timing and aim! Yes, the Lord, he did smile. 

I should have picked up on what God was doing sooner because of an incident that took place in our home 20 years earlier. One evening, when our second daughter was just a baby, she was provoked and had worked herself into an irreversible emotional tailspin. She could not talk but boy could she wail! Mustering all our parental wisdom, we sat her down into a bathtub of unheated tap water. The effect was magical! Whatever had been her problem had given way to a new and more immediate issue. The child we retrieved from the tub was the quieter version of the daughter we enjoyed and preferred. We dried off her wrinkly pink skin and wiped away all her tears. Thankfully, all was once again well with her soul and she was off to her next adventure. I think the word of the Lord to both – my daughter and myself, after our unorthodox baptisms, was (and remains) …

                                                Dear Ones, seriously, You need to chill out.

It is so pivotal to know we have not been exiled – no matter how we may feel. In Christ we can’t even leave home. To many of his super-busy, super-zealous (and often frustrated) children, the Lord is saying something like this …

Its in quietness and rest you will find Me. By all means seek me with all your heart but do it with the new one that I have given you that intuitively knows I have not left you and never will. I want you to learn to rest in me. I am your life, so in every sense, I am your sufficiency. Our lives are permanently entwined. Celebrate that! Repent of your strife. The emotions you desire will follow your renewed thinking. Chill out a little. It is going to be alright. I promise.

Father, It is a good thing to give thanks to you and sing praises to your name. As I take account of the exceedingly great promises you have entrusted us, I am stunned at the wisdom and generosity of your plans and the extravagance of your love! Truly Lord you are The Wonder of all wonders! I love You too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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