Right in the middle of today’s section of scripture is one of my all time favorite verses.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to hard you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

What’s the context?  Normally we use this verse to give us a good feeling that the Lord’s going to take care of us and help us have a great life and career.  Many of my high school seniors and college students claim this verse as they are trying to figure out what to do with their lives. (Jer, 29:11)

The truth of the matter is that this passage was written to the Israelites that were exiled in Babylon.  The Lord told them that after seven years he would bring them out of this captivity.  Interestingly enough He reminds them back in verse four that it was He who sent them into exile in the first place and it would be Him who would carry them out.  Their past, present, and future where known and even ordered by God.  He wanted them to learn something in the process.  He wanted them to turn back to Him and follow Him with their whole heart. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer 29:13)  Like yesterday’s blog, we see here again that God’s more interested in our heart and our relationship with Him, than He is our circumstances.  Higher ways.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you couldn’t understand why things were they way they were and you got mad at God?  If we’re being truthful, the answer is probably, “yes.”  Though I’m generally even-tempered and a positive person, I’ve had my share of frustration with the Lord.  Sometimes we question ourselves for getting upset with the Lord.  We think we’re not supposed to question God.   In reality, these are often the moment of growth in our relationship with Him.  In our doubt and in our questions we can draw closer to Him.  Honestly, I think He just wants us to ask.  He already knows our hearts – so we might as well talk with Him about it.

Jeremiah had one of these moments in chapter 12.  He was questioning God’s justice.  He asked God, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?  You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit.  You are on their lips but far from their hearts.” (Jer. 12:1b- 2).  Jeremiah goes on to say that he has been true to the Lord and the Lord should know that he is faithful.  In the previous chapter we learned that the very people Jeremiah was trying to speak the truth to about the Lord were trying to kill him.  Jeremiah is trying to be a faithful follower of the Lord, but is struck by how prosperous the people are who only serve the Lord on the surface (or who claim with their lips to love God).

I’m not totally sure of Jeremiah’s motives.  I’m not sure if he genuinely wanted to know why people prosper who were not fully following the Lord, or if he was jealous and wanted to know why he wasn’t prospering.  Either way, I think those of us who are following God with our whole heart have asked this question from time to time.  I don’t have a good answer to the question of why some prosper and some don’t.  All I know is that God’s much more interested in my heart than my status in life.  I don’t always see it through His eyes.  Sometimes I look through my worldly eyes and see a worldly vision of success.  Help me Lord, to see success from your perspective.  Give me a bigger vision of who you’ve created me to be and my purpose on earth.

This section of scripture ends the book of Isaiah and begins the writings of the prophet Jeremiah.  Jeremiah is sometimes referred to as the “weeping prophet” since though he came from a good landowning family with a joyful early life, his writings in Jeremiah and Lamentations are sorrowful. Unlike Isaiah, who was eager to speak for the Lord, Jeremiah was more apprehensive.  On the first pages of the book he calls himself, “…only a child.” (Jer 1:6).  In the end, Jeremiah did step up to the calling of the Lord to be his mouthpiece to the people.  The Lord spoke bold words through Jeremiah.  These words spanned over the reign of five different kings of Judah (Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoichin, and Zedekiah). Here are some of the words that stood out to me in this section of scripture:

…my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols.  Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror, declares the Lord. (Jer. 2:11b-12)

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts… (Jer. 4:4a)

…they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their fathers taught them. (Jer. 9:14)

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh…the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.” (Jer. 9:25-26)

No one is like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. (Jer. 10:6)