Jeremiah's Hope

         As you sit at your computer the God of the Universe is calling you to a spirit and an attitude of worship.  Just sit back and relax.  Take a deep breath and then silently sigh a prayer…

        “Oh God, would you touch me now?  Jesus said ‘Abba Father.’  As a song gently murmurs, ‘Deep within my soul I cry, Abba Father.’  I don’t really know what I need from you right now.  I sense it is something profound.  My list of wants is long but You already know all about that.  I will start with asking You to forgive me for my expressions of blatant carnal humanity.  I also ask You to give me that touch of Grace and Peace You have promised to those who would ask. I want to sit in the Presence of the Holy for just a few minutes, Lord.  Thank you for your promise of love…thank you… thank you.”

Jeremiah had a sense of the Holy in his life that he expressed as having been known by and called by God from his pre-birth existence.

“The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’” Jeremiah 1.5

Jeremiah protested this announcement of God’s intention by saying I don’t know how, I’m too young.  God understood the reluctance that comes welling up inside us.

Sometimes the reluctance is rooted in apprehension or fear.  Perhaps its origins lie in other ambitions.  Whatever the cause, God encourages us in His direction because it really is the best path for the fulfillment of our destiny.

         “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29.11

Now the real kicker is that this statement just followed one in which God tells His people that this prosperity, hope and a future will come after seventy (70) years of captivity in a foreign land.  And that’s good news?  Where’s the hope in that?

The message here in Jeremiah 29 is that hope rests in dependence on God, not on popular prophecies or political power.  Wow, that really flies in the face of what a lot of Christians are hoping, praying for and expecting today.

Another populist belief and expression today is that what God wants, and has to have in order for blessing to come, is our praise and worship.  In chapters 8 and 9 of Jeremiah we find that lamentation (expression of sorrow and repentance), not praise, is the appropriate worship in the face of desperate times.

Yes, Jeremiah had a sense of the Holy in his life. You do too.  David did, also.  Many, many others have and not one of them has been perfect.  Actually, it would be rare to find one who would even make a decent role model, yet they were touched by the Holy. It didn’t mean that everything they did was great, or even right.  It didn’t guarantee any type of recognizable success.  It was not very definable nor evident to those around, but the individual touched by the Holy knew there was a path, a relationship building, a hope for the future, a peace with the present, a forgiveness of the past.

How about you?  Do you sense that you have been touched by the Holy?  Would you like to be touched by the Holy?  How about another prayer before you go offline?

          “God, it’s not that I want to be something great in your Kingdom.  I just need that touch of the Holy in my less-than-perfect life.  Thank you for your love, thank you for your touch.”