We've all had them. Days that just seem to start difficult. Gravity seems a stronger force everywhere you step. So that you're dropping stuff here and there and can't seem to get a grip. Until that last thing falls, scatters and makes a mess. And you lose it altogether. Those days certainly feel like captivity. CAPTIVITY: the state or period of being held, imprisoned, enslaved or confined. Because you just don't feel like anything is under your control any longer. And you want to give up hope. I'm with you! I have them too. But I have to constantly remind myself that I'm not bound to that mindset. Because I serve a God of hope, full of mercy and grace. And He longs for us to live, not as a captives, but as a free sons and daughters of the King. Long ago, in Israel, men and women lived who KNEW real captivity. For they were certainly being taken by enemy forces. And Jeremiah prophesied of it. But even in the midst of it, he praised God. Even in the midst of it, he tells us that God is mighty and great. And God even made him a deal. Jeremiah, from prison, tells us that even while he was prophesying of the coming of the Babylonians to take over, he was going to be offered land to purchase from his uncle. Land within Judah. And God wanted Jeremiah to bargain for the land and secure the deed. I know... what an odd thing to include in the middle of all this prophecy. But it has meaning... for it gives hope! You see, God wanted him to know that there was something to which he would return. God was making him a promise. that even in the midst of trouble, while he was in prison for doing the will of God, and even while the country that he loved was being surrounded and under siege by enemy forces, there was a hopeful outcome in his future. There was this deed to a piece of land to which he would one day return. For God had not only told him to prophesy of the captivity, but also that He would restore those faithful to Him. And this land was the deed to that promise for Jeremiah. So from prison, he prayed... I prayed to the Lord, saying: ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. You show lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them... the Great, the Mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts. You are great in counsel and mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 32:16-19 NKJV And as Jeremiah remained faithful to God others were watching... because that's what people do. And God wanted Jeremiah to be a faithful witness of HOPE, even in the captivity... even to those watching. And You have said to me, O Lord God, “Buy the field for money, and take witnesses”! yet the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’” Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? Jeremiah 32:26-27 Even in those days of captivity, when God told Jeremiah to buy the land he told him to take witnesses. Because he wanted more than just one to have this hope. He wanted word to spread that there was a land to which they could, and would come back. So how does this apply to us? What about those days we feel captive... where nothing is going quite right and gravity is pulling us down. Can those also be days when we will speak out loud like Jeremiah, of God's praises. Can those be days when we will pray to God, not only with requests, but listening to what He wants of us. For maybe He has something for us that will give hope in the middle? And maybe there will be witnesses who need also to see the hope we find? It may not be for you to buy a piece of land. Gosh, for me, I hope not. That stack of papers you have sign... Ugh, just too big! But seriously, we serve a God of hope. He lives on the inside of us. Even in the days when we feel CAPTIVE. So let us not waiver. Let us not sink down in the heaviness. But rather, let us praise, pray and purpose to HOPE in the Lord... and bring witnesses. Word of God train me, today... To not get stuck in my captivity, but trust in the hope You have for me. To know that nothing is too hard for You!
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January 2019
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