Jeremiah 42-43

(February 4, 2015)

                A couple of thoughts from this chapter.  First, when Jeremiah (a prophet) needed an answer, he didn’t retire to his study and come out an hour later with the words of the Lord.  No, it took him ten days to receive the message the Lord wanted delivered to His children.  Why is it that we can see this and still think that though a prophet took ten days to get an answer for someone else (an answer where, presumably, Jeremiah had less internal desires to work through) we can somehow be frustrated if our five minutes of prayer on a subject don’t yield a clear response (or even our five minutes a day for a week don’t yield a response! – as if that is a significant time to carry a question before the Lord).

                The other thought was on the people at this time.  They didn’t want an answer from the Lord – they wanted their answer confirmed by the Lord.  It is very easy to see that behavior in others around us (our current society, even within the Church, makes such behavior apparent) but it is more difficult to see that behavior in ourselves.  And yet, it is essential that we open our eyes to the way in which we are doing just this.  We have our vision of who the Lord is, and so long as the Lord is acting consistent with that vision we follow Him.  But the moment He varies from what we expect, we don’t look at it like an opportunity to learn of Him better.  This is a mistake on our parts.  We must open ourselves to fully follow Him – and, by so doing, we can come to fully know Him.