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 rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?”
Jeremiah 2: 6 (NIV)
Scripture: Jeremiah 2: 1-19
Our walk with God is characterized with mountain-top experiences and valleys. We feel closest to God on the mountain top. This devotion looks at how those experiences can encourage us in the valleys.
Cliff Notes
- We point back to mountain-top experiences to remind us when we were closest with God.
- God does interact with us individually.
- Excuses we come up with don’t matter. What matters is God’s calling.
- If God is going to call, God is going to equip.
I read verses like Jeremiah 2: 6 and have a problem with them. This question was being asked in Jeremiah’s time. That was years after the road trip out of Egypt.
When I first read this, my thought was, is that the last big thing that had happened to which Israel could point? Was this their last big mountain-top experience? Didn’t they have something more recent that they could use as their reference point?
It is really sad if no new mountain-top experience had happened in their lives that they have to go that far back for a reassurance of God’s presence. If it were me, I would be getting really scared if I hadn’t felt God’s sustaining presence in that long of a time. I would know that I wasn’t living in His Will.
I know He will never leave me, and my salvation is safe, but I do want Him to be Lord of my daily life, not just the major trouble sections. I want him there daily, not just once in a blue moon.
Corporate as Opposed to Individual
Maybe it is because that is the last time it really affected everyone in a big way. Some of us won’t be as assured by how God sustained someone else individually. Maybe that was the last big one where His actions affected the nation as a whole.
Maybe God knows it has to be a big thing. We generally don’t pay attention when He watches over us in a small way. Yes, we may say, “Thank You for not letting that car hit me.” We may remember it to tell our family that night. But we won’t remember it years later. We’ll have slept by then.
Then again, we have a tendency to think the small things are just done in our power. God really isn’t helping me with this. It may not be enough of a struggle. Or it may be that is where our strengths lie. We, if we really think of it at all, think it is just us doing it.
Hold the Phones
But hang on here a second. It isn’t Israel who is asking the question. It is God.
Jeremiah 2:1 starts out, “The word of the Lord came to me …” God Himself was using ancient history to remind His people of His power and control of the situation.
What Does This Mean?
Let’s start over and put this verse into context.
God began His encounter with Jeremiah by telling him, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1: 5 RSV). God does interact with us individually. It doesn’t have to be within a church setting or even through one of His ministers. He pursues us.
Jeremiah immediately countered with excuses as to why he couldn’t do what God is asking. “… Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you you shall speak. Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord” (Jer. 1: 7-8 RSV). Age doesn’t matter. Experience doesn’t matter. What matters is God’s calling.
One of my most favorite verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 1: 9: “… Behold, I have put my words in your mouth” (RSV). God didn’t send Jeremiah out there on his own. He told him the message to say.
The words God gave Jeremiah to prophecy did not tell of a coming mountain-top experience for Israel. They spoke of destruction and captivity that had to occur first. Then they spoke of deliverance. But the bad stuff came first.
All of Jeremiah 2 is God pleading with Israel to repent. He didn’t want to punish them — He would and did. His first choice, however, was that Israel return to worship Him.
God was probably reminding the Israelites of past deliverance because He knew that was not what they would be focusing on at that minute. He knew they would focus on their present.
How Do We Apply This?
God wants us to use any experience in which He has rescued us to comfort us in times of trouble. He allows trials to happen so that we can see that we can depend on Him.
If God is going to call us, God is going to equip us. He is not going to send us out there destined for only failure. “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it” (Isa. 55: 11 NLT). Even if things are not happening the way we wanted them to, they are happening as God has allowed — God can use it.
God is going to put words in our mouths (and our fingers) so we can share them with others. Yes, it may be about things that have happened to us. More importantly, it is going to be what God did for us — and is willing to do for them.
We need the summit experiences, but we also need the valleys. We find rest and peace in the mountain-top experiences. We grow in the valleys.
We are the ones who are always looking to the next big thing. God just wants us to rest in Him. He doesn’t want us to look beyond the day. “Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today” (Mt. 6: 34 CEV). God wants us to focus on Him in the here and now.
In reality, we need the valleys and the summits. They string together to form our journeys. Most importantly, we need God on every step of the journey.
Loving Heavenly Father. You are so loving. You know us so well. You know we need concrete examples of Your presence and Your power so we can’t deny it was You. Forgive us when we think we can do things on our own. Help us to see You daily working in our lives. Amen.
What do you think? When was your last mountain-top experience? How can you use it to build your relationship with God? Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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