Jeremiah 33:3 -- "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."
So once again I take keyboard in hand with nary a thought as to what I want to say. I perused several daily devotional resources to see if anything sparked, and I came up with two that would suffice. I chose this verse from Jeremiah 33 for many reasons, one of which is I could probably write a book on the other available verse, and while brevity is not my strong suit, I do try to keep things somewhat contained in the length department here on Soulscape. But if I thought you had unlimited time and patience to read all that, it might be a different story…
Anyway, as I read this verse there were several things that came to mind, and I'd like to share some of them with you. I am often surprised, even in this jaded world of skepticism, by the extremely vocal minority who don't believe God is real at all and, if He is, that He's an impotent, uncaring God, detached from the cares and concerns of mortal man. I can't accept that premise, so there will be no further comment on it. I do, however, find myself even more surprised at the sway that Satan still holds over many believers, sincere Christians who find themselves chained to fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
"What is THAT?" you say to me now. "How can Satan hold sway over a Christian?" It's true, and it's very simple to explain: he CAN and DOES do it because WE let him. If you haven't been thoroughly confused or repulsed yet, I'll try to briefly (insert pause for laughter here) share with you some illustration of the point I'm trying to make.
Have you ever seen someone (or rather, have you yourself ever experienced), some sincere Christian, go through a particularly difficult trial; even if it didn't seem so bad to you, it most certainly did to them? There's a lot of prayer involved, a lot of vague hopes for a solution or some relief, but there just below the surface is an inkling of doubt, of, "Well, I've prayed and I hope the Lord heard me." For many, the sight of a Christian with anything less than 100% faith, anything less than a no-worries, carefree attitude is not what they'd call a rousing endorsement for trusting in Jesus. It's sad, but true, and it is a common thing. And as a side note before proceeding, let me tell you that any pastor who tells you that real faith has absolutely no confrontation with doubt or fear has absolutely no idea what he or she is talking about.
Maybe the situation is just a little bit different. Maybe it's not some crisis. Maybe it has something to do with finding a path, or having courage to make a decision for self, a family, or a church. All of us are or have been guilty of saying something along the lines of, "I don't know how we're going to get by (do this, achieve this goal, or any other thing like this)." This, too, illustrates a lack of faith; it's not that we doubt God is capable of doing whatever it is that's in front of us, it's that we don't stop long enough to ask, listen for an answer, and/or see miraculous things.
That's where this wonderful reminder in Jeremiah comes into play; its relevance in our lives today cannot be overstated. Each and every day, especially during the trials, we need to remember to call upon the Lord, to make the effort to share our thoughts and concerns with Him, to do as the old song says, "Have a Little Talk With Jesus." But we can't stop there. When we ask we must go forward in the faith, knowing that He will indeed answer His children. He's not going to just leave us hanging (even if a delay seems like it). He will answer and, in the answering, our minds, hearts, souls, and even our eyes will see great things and mighty things.
In short, if we'll believe in a God of the possible, we can see the impossible.
When something happens to us, when we have a question, or just want to waste some time, we often pick up the phone and call a friend. I would encourage you to put in a call to the Lord every once in a while. You just might be surprised by what you see, and for the new and the seasoned believer, that just might be a very good thing.
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