June 26, 2001
Woe to me because of my injury!
My wound is incurable! Yet I said to myself,
"This is my sickness, and I must endure it."
Jeremiah 10:19
In the surrounding verses the fate of Israel is detailed and they're warned that it is underway, the invader from the north (Assyria) is on the march. Verse 19 is Jeremiah's response for his people but gives us a look at the heart of God and the heart he wants us to have. This is how God wants me to respond to hard times today.. to have a heart of acceptance about what he is doing even, and especially, when the circumstances are painful for me. The prophet understood that man doesn't determine his own steps (vs. 23) God is in control of our lives. Hard times, trials etc.. are a unique opportunity to grow... how I respond determines where my life goes from here. It isn't easy, it doesn't make the pain go away and the circumstances don't change right away - that would be great - but it doesn't work that way. But if I fight to see God through it all, fight to find the good that he is or can be doing then my heart can trust in him and I will emerge stronger, with deeper convictions, a deeper walk with God and a different person... it's all in the choices I make day to day and moment by moment.