Hope in the Lord

DAILY READING

Jeremiah 14:20-22 (NLT)

DEVOTION / REFLECTION

Plan A through Z

by Karen Burkhart

The context for today's Bible reading is a sobering one--the nation of Israel was in the midst of a great drought brought on by their willful disobedience to God. Israel had had every opportunity to be the recipients of God's great blessings simply by obeying His voice, but instead she disobeyed. God then, being faithful and true, had no choice but to make good on His promise to overtake Israel with the curses He had warned them about (see Deuteronomy 28). 

Unlike human inclination, God doesn't punish to be vindictive but to get attention for redemptive purposes. Drought, in particular, has a compelling way of getting people to look up, especially in an agrarian society. When the land is parched and the cisterns empty, life comes to a grinding halt and that's when stiff-necked people are most inclined to cry out to God and beg for His forgiveness. That's exactly what we see the prophet Jeremiah doing on behalf of Israel in Jeremiah 14:20-22.  

When the prophet Jeremiah saw the connection between Israel's sin and the drought, he didn't waste breath trying to justify Israel before God. He didn't whitewash Israel's sin or recount times past when she walked in obedience; Jeremiah simply cried out for the mercy of God and appealed to His honor and His promise. Jeremiah knew God could have justly abandoned and scorned Israel and kept rain from falling because Israel had broken her side of the covenant, but Jeremiah also knew that God is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. With a God like that, there's always a chance He will relent and allow His blessings to pour again (see Joel 2:12-14).  

For many of us today, we are uncomfortable with the idea of a God who punishes; we prefer to focus on God's attributes of grace and kindness. When we read the Bible, we tend to camp out in The New Testament and speed through stories like the one about Ananias and Saphira whom God struck dead for lying. Though it's true that Christians are no longer under the law of the Old Testament, it's important to know that God's nature and character did not change between the Testaments. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Holiness and obedience still matter to God.  

So what can we learn and apply to our lives from today's Scripture and its context? First, when we find ourselves in overwhelmingly difficult circumstances we should at least consider if God may be wanting to get our attention and call us to repentance. Then, if we acknowledge we have wandered from God's ways, we should repent and cry out to Him for mercy. We can have full confidence that God will not despise the plea of a humble and broken heart (Psalm 51:16-18). 

A second application of today's Scripture is to follow Jeremiah's example by placing ALL our hope in God alone. You see, God doesn't want to be our contingency plan--He wants to be our plan A to plan Z. That's not to suggest when we place all our hope in God that everything will work out favorably for us here on earth in all ways and at all times, but it does mean it will ultimately be well with our soul.  

Listen to MercyMe's song, Even If

PRAYER PRACTICE

Spoken Prayer – Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

Hope is in You

Though God had told Jeremiah that He would not hear the prayers prayed for the people (verse 14:11), nevertheless out of love, Jeremiah continued to plead for them. With death and devastation all around as the grim penalty for idolatry, Jeremiah knew that in the face of their continued disloyalty, if God abandoned His covenant love for Judah, all was lost (verse 21). So he cries out on the basis of who God is. He waits in hope. As we must when in serious trouble. Where else can we go?

STUDY THE SCRIPTURE

Click here to access the reading from Jeremiah 14:20-22

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REFLECTION

 

Let it Rain!

by Tom Richards

Jeremiah was a contemporary of the prophet Ezekiel who we have heard from in previous Daily Worship posts. Both lived during a turbulent time when the Israelites were in rebellion against God. In chapter 14 we find the people of Judah (southern kingdom of Israel) enduring a severe drought. In chapter 14:1– 15:9 Jeremiah alternately prays, and God responds. Verses 20–22 are one of his prayers. 

It seems like there are some parallels that can be drawn between Jeremiah’s prayer in verses 20–22 and a prayer that we might say today. In verse 20 Jeremiah says “We acknowledge our wickedness, Lord, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have indeed sinned against you.” It’s one thing to confess our wickedness, but to reference the “guilt of our ancestors” seems odd. However, for someone my age, it is easy to look back over the past fifty years and see how our collective disobedience to God has progressed. So maybe this isn’t such a stretch. I recently read an article where the author stated “We don’t live to ourselves alone, but to our families, communities, and the nation. If as Christ’s disciples we have fumbled the ball, can we complain when the other team picks it up and scores? A secular culture triumphs over a once-God-honoring culture by pure physics: Every vacuum begs to be filled.” I wonder, does this concept apply to us in 2020 – and did it apply in Jeremiah’s time?

In verse 21 Jeremiah says “For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne.  Remember your covenant with us and do not break it.” Here Jeremiah is asking God to “remember” his covenant with the nation of Israel. When we are dealing with the “drought” of sin we also ask God to remember his covenant, only we live under the new covenant. The covenant that God gives us through the suffering, death, and resurrection of his son, Jesus. The covenant that assures us of God’s love and grace if we have faith in his Son. The covenant God longs to share with us. The covenant that God never “forgets”. 

In verse 22 Jeremiah says “Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?  Do the skies themselves send down showers?  No, it is you, Lord our God. Therefore, our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.”  Here Jeremiah confirms that the only true hope for salvation/restoration/”rain” is God.  We can ask if government, celebrities, work, wealth, science, or technology can ultimately solve the “drought” of sin.  Jeremiah tells us the answer, doesn’t he: Therefore, our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.”  

Father, we have sinned against you as individuals, as your church, and as a nation.  We ask for your forgiveness promised in the new covenant you established through the suffering, death, and resurrection of your son Jesus Christ.  We have no one else to turn to in our sinful state and ask you, and you alone, to deliver us.  Amen

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER

TUESDAY - UNITY: God of peace, we pray for de-polarized, non-defensive pursuit of truth, unity, and equality. We pray for well engaged minds. Set us free from the competing narratives of our culture wars that funnel us into opposing camps and make of us a house divided. Kindle in us a desire for your truth that is larger than our desire to have been right.