This passage describes how the leaders of Israel have taken advantage of Gods people and how God will personally rescue them. But then there is a picture of how they will continue to suffer because of their own actions…yet in it all God still intends to bless them. What an amazing God we serve!!!
God has a claim on everything in our lives and is able to use anything and everything to help us to see and understand who He is. Tragically, Ezekiel’s wife dies and God uses it as a lesson for all His people…and Ezekiel has no say. Yet through His suffering, He knows that God is with Him and is using him. Lord, help me to see You just as clearly and have confidence in You!!!
There is something about punishment that helps us to see clearly. The pain of it all, forces us to clear away all the lies and convenient excuses we use to follow our own desires. It forces us to see reality and our own true condition! Lord, please let me see these things clearly without the need for discipline!
We don’t usually expect our story to turn to a tragedy, we are looking for success and victory. But unfortunately, we are not the authors of our story…instead we are called to trust the Author and have confidence in His promises. Lord help me to trust You even when things are not going the way I expect.
What an amazing description of how we knowingly submit ourselves to temptation when we are not walking by the Spirit. If we are thinking of how we may flirt with the desires of our flesh, our fall is inevitable and fully rests on our shoulders.
Lord help me to flee from getting close to the line and run into your arms!
God has shown patience to his people for decades, but His message in this chapter is that he is no longer waiting…the time to pay the piper has arrived. Their sin will now be punished by God…with the intention of reminding His people that He is God.
Lord, help me to listen immediately and not need your punishment to see who You are and act like it.
So many times I want to assign punishment or trials as the removal of protection of God. In other words, God doesn’t cause the bad, but sometimes allows it…it has been hard for me to read this section and continue with this idea…over and over God says that He will accomplish the destruction/punishment Himself…justly repaying the Israelites for their rebellion. I am not sure how to weave this into the theology I believe…Lord give me wisdom and confidence in You alone!
Ezekiel has been given some crazy task to act out this siege of Jerusalem and must eat defiled food, yet here God relaxes the requirements in an act of kindness. What a bizarre scene, yet God is at work teaching the Israelites the importance of obedience. Lord strengthen me to be obedient at every moment!
God sees and knows our suffering and trials, we are not alone even if we are the cause of our trial. What a blessing to be unconditionally loved and cared for by the most powerful and most loving being. We are blessed to know Him!!!
It is so easy to focus on the present trial we are in…they loom so large, we can forget anything else exists. But this passage reminds us that we need to pursue memories of Gods past faithfulness. It is always worth the effort to be reminded of how God has come through in past time in my life or in the lives of friends. God, You are so good and we have such bad memories…strengthen me to meditate on you faithfulness!
God is an active part of carrying out the trials that we face, yet it is for our good and His glory!
When the city fell God protected Jeremiah just as He promised…he was treated well and cared for even through the trial. The trial did not stop, evaporate or transform into something beautiful…but God was there, protecting, caring and guiding him in the midst of it all!
Lord, thank you that you never leave us and promise to always care for us. Help me to trust you more!!!
What a beautiful picture of God bringing peace, joy and blessing to the people who have just experienced discipline. His intention with trials/discipline is not to destroy but rather to transform and draw us near. Lord help me to always be looking toward Your ultimate plan rather than being so focused on the suffering of today.
Jeremiah has such a hard calling: to declare Gods word to the people of Israel knowing they will reject it and hate him personally. This chapter we see him cursing the day he was born and wishing he would have died…he is in a tough situation that he cannot do anything about. He is fully reliant on God. Then we get this gem, “the LORD is with me.”
What a blessing that God does not shy away from the hard moments of our life, no matter where our mental health is or how much suffering we endure, God is with us.
Lord, allow me to recognize your presence even when I am facing trials or experiencing fear of the future.
““Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”
Jeremiah 32:27 ESV
What a delight to remember that nothing is impossible for God. So many things around me seem broken beyond repair but God is bigger than all of them! The damage and destruction that people cause themselves are the raw material of Gods handiwork.
Lord, help me to believe that is true…restore my faith in Your purposes. Lord would You be glorified by putting every piece in place and drawing each person back to close relationship with You!
“When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.” (The Lords destruction followed…)
“And when he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, conditions were good in Judah.”
2 Chronicles 12:12 ESV
How easy it is to get comfortable and feel like things are all going your way…and become self dependent rather than leaning on God. After He has cared for and protected us, we gladly accept the credit for all of Gods work. We actually think all of His provision was because of our own great wisdom and awesomeness…and therefore turn from Him.
God is patient with us, but is unwilling to give up glory and will eventually pull away his blessing and may even allow suffering…this always brings destruction! But is is also meant to remind us that all good things are from God, not ourselves.
Lord, I need your patience, but open my eyes quickly when I am taking credit for Your blessing so that I can. Give You glory.
“Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, you wicked man! The Lord has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul in whose place you became king, and the Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. Look, you are in trouble because you’re a man of bloodshed! ” The king replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, do we agree on anything? He curses me this way because the Lord told him, ‘Curse David! ’ Therefore, who can say, ‘Why did you do that? ’ ””
2 Samuel 16:7-8, 10 CSB
Absaloms fate was sealed because he was going against God. David on the other hand allowed the guy to continue cursing him, just in case it was from God…David shows that he is willing to suffer, if it is Gods plan.
Lord, help me to look for Your guidance in every thought, woe or action I take!
“Lord, your faithful love reaches to heaven, your faithfulness to the clouds. How priceless your faithful love is, God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”
Psalms 36:5, 7 CSB
Lord, your faithfulness includes love, protection and guidance as well as discipline, correction and reproof. Thank You for loving me enough to demonstrate Your faithfulness in all these flavors!!!
“They received help against these enemies because they cried out to God in battle, and the Hagrites and all their allies were handed over to them. He was receptive to their prayer because they trusted in him. ”
1 Chronicles 5:20 CSB
Even in this boring list of names, we are told of a group of people who trusted God and defeated their enemies because they turned to Him in prayer. God listened and acted on their behalf for one reason: they trusted in Him! Not trusting in themselves, their skill, their numbers or their strength…they trusted God! Lord, I pray that my words, actions and motives reflect that I trust You in every moment of my life…
