Jeremiah’s Advice to Stay
Open Your Bible
Jeremiah 42:1-22, Jeremiah 43:1-13, Psalm 104:1-4, Romans 8:31
BY Kaitie Stoddard
Everyone in the whole city wanted to know God’s will for them, or so they said. But when the Lord’s instructions didn’t match up with what the people of Judah wanted to hear, they quickly made up excuses to dismiss the message and the messenger.
God spoke through Jeremiah and told the people to stay put, but they trusted their own plans over His. “Surely Egypt will be better,” they arrogantly thought. Much like when Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, the people placed themselves on the throne to judge what was best for their lives. In doing so, they failed to trust God. It’s a mistake that humankind has made repeatedly since the beginning of time. But just as God was trying to protect Adam and Eve when He warned them not to eat the fruit in the garden, He was trying to protect the people of Judah. It’s important to realize that God wasn’t being controlling or trying to ruin their fun, rather, He knew that if they followed their own path it would lead straight to death (Jeremiah 42:22).
I’m sure we’ve all asked God for wisdom and direction in big and small decisions. But can you think of a time when you weren’t really open to hearing the Father’s answer? Maybe you already had your mind made up about what you wanted to do or what you thought was best. But when God started to speak to you, were you willing to hear what He had to say? Was your heart ready to obey?
Like Adam and Eve, and the people Jeremiah prophesied to, most of the time we are not setting out to purposely rebel against God. The problem is actually more deeply rooted in our hearts than that. The reason we struggle to obey God is because we struggle to trust God. While we profess with our lips that God is a good and wise King, our actions sometimes show that we put more stock in our own judgment and abilities to run the show. But just as it was for the first man and woman, and the stubborn people of Judah, our own steps unguided by the light of the Holy Spirit always lead to the dead end of death.
We must trust God more and trust ourselves less; He must increase, and we must decrease (John 3:30). None of us are perfect in this area. Not one. But we don’t need to figure this out alone. God knows this fault in us, and it’s exactly why He came to save us from ourselves. We have a rescuer who will go after us no matter how far we’ve wandered from the path. Like a good Shepherd, our God will chase down the lost sheep and bring us back into the fold (Luke 15:4). And bit by bit, as we learn to trust God to lead our lives, we will experience life, abundant life.Through communion with God, we will be “transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
65 thoughts on "Jeremiah’s Advice to Stay"
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Thank you, Churchmouse and Tina, for your words of wisdom. Let us trust God to work through our leaders, and let us not think we know better… To obey is better than sacrifice. Our God is faithful.
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It’s been said by everyone so I’ll just add to the lot- it’s so true. So many times I’ve prayed His wisdom and direction, only so I can check a box that “well at least I asked”- but in my heart the matter was already settled and I was going to do it my way regardless. I’m praying for Him to continue to encourage my heart to remember that He loves me and any boundary or calling or direction or “limit” He speaks for me to follow is there for my protection. He’s already seen my whole life through the end- He has the most information on the topic!! :) He’s trustworthy.
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I spent over ten years rebelling against God and taking matters into my own hands.
I remember those days. Many were spent in frustration, worried, obsessed with other people’s lives, angry, working hard to get what I thought I needed. At first, my determination and grit got me through a lot and further than many of my peers, but in retrospect it was only God blessing me, not my own doing.
I was like Jacob, struggling to get what I deserved, not accepting where I was, not accepting my own consequences, and blaming others. I distinctly remember a point where I stared madness in the face, the edge of a mental breakdown trying to force how I thought my life should be, and instead of dropping into the precipice, I ever so slightly leaned towards God and He caught me.
God is so good. Even after all the rebellion, the heartache and hurt after the fact, He accepted me fully, forgave me and gave me some wisdom I was lacking and I’m still learning to trust Him.
Patience and trusting God, no more inner turmoil, no more heartache, no more madness… let me rephrase, no more insanity. There is a certain amount of madness to God and what He does, it just doesn’t end with circling the drain. For His ways are not our ways…
The more I lean towards God, trust Him, trust His voice, the more I find myself in awe of how great God is and what He does with so little, if I just trust Him, with everything. And I mean everything.
I don’t got this, God’s got this.
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Amen!
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Amen.
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Churchmouse, can i just say, I love you my friend.
In my thoughts and prayers..xxx❤ -
We can say we trust God, but do we really?
Thoughts to ponder…
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Tina, you put into words my thoughts. Amen!
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The remnant of Judah saw themselves between a rock and a hard place. Stay and try to eke out a living in a destroyed city, fearful of yet being killed there or surrender to the Babylonians (think ISIS) and be taken into captivity. Surely there was a third option! Egypt! The grass sure looked greener there. Peace and protection would be found there, right? So off they went despite the warning of God through Jeremiah. They would go to Egypt, the very place that had once enslaved them. Foolish Judah. They couldn’t understand that God’s plan to use Babylon was one to set them free. Their choice of Egypt would chain them once again to “sword, famine and plague.” Judah had come to a crossroads: to go their way or God’s way. God’s way appeared the harder route and so they chose what appeared to be the easier one. They chose comfort over challenge. They chose the familiar over faith. They chose their own will over God’s will.
How often do we do the same? We are called to walk by faith, not by sight. Yet we laser focus on our circumstances and how we can fix them. We glance at God and can’t imagine He would want us to have a wilderness or desert or captivity experience. We can’t believe He has purpose behind suffering or hardship. We can’t possibly be under God’s judgment and discipline because His job is to make and keep us happy (yes sarcasm). So we go our own way only to find out it is as He said, a dead end. It is always always always best to be in the center of God’s will. Seek first His kingdom. Seek His face. He will walk with us through the valley. He is absolutely trustworthy. Stand firm in the storm – He may just have us walk on water. And He will get us safely to shore. The grass beneath His feet is ever green.
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Kaitie, your first two paragraphs could have been describing life right now, 2020, for the world in this season we find ourselves. The approach of ‘we know best’ or better even in the face of death or disaster astounds me, but here we are, still.. STILL, NOT listening. Not hearing the life saving words, words to keep us safe, our families safe..
Law unto ourselves comes to mind!
Stubborn too.Right now, we need to hear the rules and regulations and guidelines for safety by our governments, but we also need as a people of God, to believe and trust in the One who takes care of the birds of the sky, HOW MUCH MORE US! Matthew 6:26
It can be so easy to trust in self, ohhh, but the trouble it brings,..
But God..
He sees us, He knows us, better than we think. He knows our sins, our faults, our wanderings, our stubborn hearts and STILL He wants to rescue us. Bring us to safer places in Him. Our best interests are His hearts desire..our well being, spiritual and physical is His hope for us..
Let us trust Him, hold fast to Him, knowing that here on earth, there are limits and limitations..But with God.. we have ALL we need to see us through our seasons and beyond..
Amen..
Praying ..The Lord bless you and take care of you, that the Lord be kind and gracious to you, He look on you with favour and give you peace.
With love, Stay safe..❤-
As I was reading, I too keep thinking what a parallel to today. They were being told to “just stay” as we are and God would keep them safe and not cause harm to them. I love the way you reflected on this!
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Well said Tina. I see a lot of parallels in the book of Jeremiah and what is going on in our World right now. I think our leaders are experiencing what God does everyday. They see people not listening and doing as they should. They see people who think their way is better. I am using this time of isolation to really listen and hear what Jesus is trying to tell me.
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❤️
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Yes yes yes !
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Amen!
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