4 “In those days, at that time,”
declares the LORD,
“the people of Israel and the people of Judah together
will go in tears to seek the LORD their God.5 They will ask the way to Zion
and turn their faces toward it.
They will come and bind themselves to the LORD
in an everlasting covenant
that will not be forgotten.
Jeremiah 50:4-5 (NIV)
It took a 70 year exile to Babylon for the nations of Israel and Judah to realize their errors in living lives apart from God. For many of us today, we live in self-imposed exiles to our own version of Babylon, worshiping our own idols of money & materialism before discovering the ueslessness of such an endeavor. I know for me, that realization was a difficult one, and I too, went “in tears to seek the Lord”
Thankfully it didn’t require a 70 year exile. And I’m happy to have bound myself to the Lord today.
How are YOU in exile?
::
25-27God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God.
It’s a good thing when you’re young
to stick it out through the hard times.28-30When life is heavy and hard to take,
go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions:
Wait for hope to appear.
Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face.
The “worst” is never the worst.Lamentations 3:25-30 The Message
It was about 4 years ago that I first read this passage in The Message paraphrase of the The Bible. And it’s taken me nearly that long to get to a point in my life to “enter the silence” and to “bow in prayer”. For too long in my faith journey I tried too hard to do things on my own, never waiting, never patient, and certainly, never praying.
Today I’m at the point where I am comfortable taking a pause in my day to pray and enter the silence. I will sometimes drive with the stereo turned off in the car just to quietly pray while driving. Or I will take a walk during the day at lunchtime and allow myself to enter the silence. I continue to learn to passionately wait for God.
Are you having a hard time entering the silence?
::
1 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 2 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 3 “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? 4 Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet, I the LORD will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry. 5 I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’
Ezekiel 14:1-5 (NIV)
There is just no escaping the themes of idolatry throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. Just as the Israelites had idols going back to the golden calf during the Mosaic age, so were there plenty of idols being worshiped during the times of the kings in the pre-exile days. Whether Baal or Asherah poles or any other idol, the Israelites found it easy to separate themselves from any semblance of a relationship with God.
And yet God continues to pursue the people who have left him for their idols. He did that thousands of years ago, and he is willing to do that for you and me today.
Are you willing to have God recapture your heart from the idols in your life today?
