Do you ever have moments when you listen to the woes of the world and feel a sense of despair? When the needs of your family feel overwhelming? When too many of your friends seem to be burdened?
In recent weeks, this has been me.
But there was one night, last week, when I woke in the middle of the night with the tune of an old hymn playing in my mind, and I sensed God speaking.
The hymn is “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, written by Joseph Medlicott Scriven in 1855, and the lyrics that resonated were these:
“Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!”
As I sang these words into the darkness and prayed, I felt gently chastised for not handing everything over to him sooner.
I also felt relieved for having now done so and went back to sleep.
But God hadn’t quite finished!
The following morning, as I was working through my allocated Scripture readings for the day, I sensed him speaking to me again – and what he showed me is is what I want to share with you here.
***
In Jeremiah 33:3, we read this: “Call to me and I will answer you, and I will show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
Meditating on this verse, I felt the Lord giving me fresh revelation.
Before I unpack it, I first need to give you some context – because God gives this word to Jeremiah in the context of hardship.
In every sense, Jeremiah is facing a tough time.
Israel has been invaded and conquered by the Babylonian army. The city of Jerusalem has been captured and is under siege. The city’s buildings are being torn down and destroyed. Most of Jeremiah’s people, the Jews, are in exile in Babylon. And Jeremiah – God’s prophet to the Jews at that time – has been arrested and placed in a courtyard under armed guard.
It’s probably an understatement to say that everything is looking bleak for his people, his city and his nation. He must have felt both hopeless and helpless.
Yet it’s in this context of hardship, when the Lord says to him: “Call to me and I will answer you, and I will show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
So let’s break down what God showed me about this verse, as I think it can help us learn how to handle hardship:
“Call to me”
The starting point comes with a profoundly personal invitation from God: “Call to me,” he says.
As God’s prophet, Jeremiah would have been used to listening, with God doing the speaking. But here, God is encouraging Jeremiah to speak and let God do the listening.
He’s reminding Jeremiah that they have a relationship; that it’s two-way; that both of them can speak. He’s inviting dialogue.
God is also presenting this as a command – notice how there’s no opt-out clause.
“and I will answer”
If Jeremiah is willing to obey and call out to God, we then see how God guarantees him a response: “Call to me and I WILL answer,” he says.
He doesn’t say, “Call to me and I will try to answer when I’m not too busy.” Or, “Call to me, but I will only answer once you’ve met some pre-determined conditions.” Or, “Call to me, but please remember to book a convenient time slot so that I will be able to give you my full attention.”
He doesn’t say any of these things.
Rather, he simply says, “Call to me and I WILL answer.” He wants there to be no room for doubt about God’s willingness and ability to respond to Jeremiah’s call.
“and show you”
God then adds an extra component to his promise: “Call to me and I will answer, and I will show you … ,” God says.
He is expanding his promise to answer Jeremiah’s call, by also promising to show.
He is reassuring Jeremiah that it’s he, God, who will do the disclosing, the revealing, the bringing of things into the open. It’s God who will show him what he needs to know.
“great and unsearchable things”
But God doesn’t want to show Jeremiah just any old thing. Rather, he wants to show Jeremiah “great and unsearchable things”.
These things are “great” in the sense that they are important and significant. And they are “unsearchable” in that they can’t be found in conventional ways. They can’t be discovered through human endeavour. They can only be shown by God.
Later, in verses 6-8, we find God naming some of these “great and unsearchable things”, revealing how he, God, will heal the city, bring the exiles home, let them enjoy peace and security, and forgive all their sins.
It’s a list of promises that would have far exceeded Jeremiah’s wildest dreams.
“you do not know”
Finally, we discover that God wants to show Jeremiah “ … things you do not know” .
Given Jeremiah is under arrest, in the courtyard of the armed guard, there are many things he would not have known. But God wants Jeremiah to suspend his own understanding – and simply to trust him.
Imagine how Jeremiah must have felt, receiving Jeremiah 33:3 from God in the midst of such a tough time!
It must have been so encouraging and reassuring, knowing that all he needed to do was call on God – and knowing that God’s response was guaranteed.
What if God is issuing you the same invitation as he issued Jeremiah? What if he is promising you the same response? What if he is simply asking you to call out to him?
What will you do?
***
How will you respond?
Perhaps, like me in recent weeks, you’ve been feeling a sense of despair at the woes of the world, or overwhelmed by the needs of your loved ones. Perhaps you’re simply in the middle of a really tough time at the moment; a season of what feels like ‘hardship’.
If this is you, why don’t you put Jeremiah 33:3 into practice?
Will you call on God, vocalising your needs and the needs of those around you?
Will you listen out for his still small voice whispering his answer to your call? Will you let him speak to you through the Scriptures?
Will you let him show you the things that he wants you to know? His plans and purposes that you wouldn’t be able to discern on your own. New truths in his promises that he wants you to grasp. Fresh perspectives that only he can reveal to you.
Imagine how much lighter you will feel if you take a moment now to do these things.
As always, constructive comments are welcome below.
(Please note: This is my ‘thought for the month’ reflection for October. You can find all my ‘thought for the month’ reflections here.)
Photo from Ruddy Corporan via Unsplash
