“The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness” (Jeremiah 31:2 ESV).
God has never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love (Jeremiah 31:2-4 MSG).
Sometimes we find ourselves in a place of unrest.
We are surrounded by tall trees with no light to guide our path.
We are constantly being chased by people with swords and shouting at us.
We keep face-planting into thick mud.
Our legs are scratched and bleeding.
We are in a place where the only thing that comes out of our mouths is weeping and mourning.
We seek rest.
We call out to God and ask, “Where are you?”
God appeared to us proclaiming His everlasting love and goodness.
“Sons and Daughters, I have never left you. I have loved you with an everlasting love and I have continued my faithfulness to you. I will build you, and you shall be built. You will again rejoice and dance.”
We began to rejoice and dance.
We were radiant because of the goodness of the Lord.
Our mourning turned into joy because of the abundance of the Lord’s goodness.
What makes us think that God leaves us while we are in the thick of the wilderness? I have learned that it is a blindspot that we’ve created. We tend to focus on our problem; when we’re running from the sword, we are merely focused on running from our pursuers. I understand that it is hard to focus on what’s ahead when we’re struggling with present issues, but if we truly focused our eyes on God who’s right in front of us instead of the pursuers behind us, maybe we wouldn’t have such a hard time in the wilderness. Maybe we’d find the grace we’ve been searching for.
Why do we think everything is something to run from? Maybe God wants you to get caught in the worst of the battle because He wants to show you His plans for deliverance. We always think we need to seek for rest after the mess slows down and the running stops. But, what if we stopped while we were still being chased to simply rest and recognize where God is in the wilderness. If we are always trying to run away from things before seeking to find our much-needed rest in God’s presence, we will miss out on looking at our issue and seeing God in it.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
Do you think if we sat and sought God with all of our heart instead of being fearful of our current issues that we’d find Him?
No doubt.
So why do we still focus on our current issue if we already know God can deliver us?
Do you think it is because we see clearly what is behind us, but have to seek harder to find what is in front of us?
But, what a difference it’d make if we simply didn’t look back and merely looked forward diligence seeking to find where God is.
The Lord your God desires to redeem you from hands too strong for yourself.
He desires to set your feet on high mountaintops.
He wants you to flourish like a watered garden.
He wants to satisfy you.
He has hope for your future.
Stop looking back when He tells you to look forward. Stop trying to figure out your problems on your own when He knows the answer already. Stop trying to fixate on the crappy circumstances when you already know the goodness of the Lord.
How many times does He have to reveal His goodness to us before we truly know and understand?
“I will taste and see that you are good, good to me” (Come to the River by Housefires)
If we don’t jump in and taste His goodness, we will miss out on a life full of God-sized deliverance.
He has the power to break the legs of your pursuers and to turn their swords from you to themselves.
He can reveal to you the light in the dark wilderness.
He can lift you up as you are about to fall into the mud and before you fall among the sticks and scratch yourself.
We serve a God who can do whatever, whenever.
But, we are still scared of these worldly problems.
Release it all. Surrender it all. Give it all up.
This life isn’t yours and the moment we all realize that we are bought from the KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS, just imagine the things He’ll do with your life.
The wilderness would no longer faze you because you would not be controlling your mind, thoughts, or actions anymore.
I have lived a worldly life and it has left me unsatisfied.
Die to yourself because a dead person is never fazed.
And that’s when you’ll realize the immense grace that you’ll find in the wilderness.
