Thoughts going in, Sun Aug 29th

Jer 2:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: "This is what the LORD says: " 'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD. 4 Hear the word of the LORD, house of Jacob, all you clans of the house of Israel. 5 This is what the LORD says: "What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. 6 They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?' 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. 8 The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols. 9 "Therefore I bring charges against you again," declares the LORD. "And I will bring charges against your children's children. 10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and observe closely; see if there has ever been anything like this: 11 Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. 12 Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror," declares the LORD. 13 "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

In part 2 of our series “Jeremiah: prophet of perseverance, prophet of hope,” I’ve lengthened the reading to include vss 1-3 of chapter 2. This is primarily so as to be able to include the fascinating thought process going on in these opening verses.

Jeremiah uses “honeymoon” imagery and language to discuss the ‘early days’ of Israel’s relationship with God. What I find fascinating about this whole thing is that it’s all a matter of perspective! From Israel’s perspective, those early days were horrific. They were wandering in the desert with no food, no water, no clue as to where they were going, no sense of security, and no idea when the whole thing was going to be over. For them, the ‘wilderness wanderings’ were a nightmare.

And while perhaps none of us has found ourselves *literally wandering in the desert of Sinai lately, perhaps we’ve found ourselves unemployed….or in a job/career we hate…or going through health problems or relationship issues…..and for all intents and purposes it’s SEEMED as though we were in the wilderness; it’s SEEMED as though we had been exiled to a far off and barren place; it’s SEEMED as though God tricked us…led us out there, and then ran away laughing while we struggle to survive on our own. *IF we can bring ourselves to pray during such times, our prayers very likely BEG God to bring this to an end; BEG him to return us to a place of familiarity and ease; a place where we can be on our own again.

As I said, perspective is everything. Isn’t it ironic that what we consider to be wilderness/exile; what we consider to be our ‘dark night of the soul,’ is very often what God considers to be a ‘honeymoon.’ WHY? Is God some kind of brutish tyrant deriving pleasure from inflicting pain and discomfort on others? Jeremiah and the whole of the bible wouldn’t put it that way. Rather, the period is ‘honeymoon’ from God’s perspective because it is He that is SO OBVIOUSLY taking care of us. During such a period, we’re forced to acknowledge that we owe our daily …even hourly…existence to God. Our prideful sense of self-sufficiency, our looks, smarts, education, drive, ambition, upbringing, family connections, career goals, etc. are meaningless in the desert. Deserts kill people. And yet, here we are in ours with life and strength enough to complain that God has abandoned us. If only we had eyes to see.

The challenge of faith is to be able to see the honeymoon from God’s perspective; to be able to see that He delights in being the object of our sole attention; He delights in minimizing our distractions; He delights in demonstrating that He can be with us and sustain us even in the midst of whatever barren land it is that we find ourselves in.
And, really…..can’t you at least sort of understand this? After all, the minute we leave the desert and resume our ‘regularly scheduled lives,’ is usually the minute that we chalk the whole thing up to OUR abilities; OUR perseverance; OUR resourcefulness, etc. We then resume cruising down life’s highway at 80mph and forget all about God. No wonder He feels forgotten and looks back at the wilderness times as a ‘honeymoon.’

Cheers,

TM