Funny how God conveys a message at times. My reading for last week was The Book of Lamentations. Honestly, it's a book that I wasn't too keen to read. I don't reckon anyone would necessarily eagerly dive into scriptures about deep mourning.
And yet, although the narration of Lamentations is obviously about lamenting, I received an entirely different message from the passage. The Book of Lamentations, for me, only confirmed that God is a promise keeper.
Throughout the Book of Jeremiah, God repeatedly sent the Prophet Jeremiah to the people of Judah and Israel. The message was simply: repent. But they refused. In fact, Jeremiah 44 shows just how vehemently they refused to heed to God's warning.
“We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.”
(Jeremiah 44:16-18 NIV)
And so, upon their promise to refuse to repent, God also made a promise. He promised to bring great destruction to Judah and Israel. He promised Babylonian captivity. The Book of Lamentations is merely proof that God keeps His Word. It only shows His faithfulness.
The Lord has done what he planned;
he has fulfilled his word,
which he decreed long ago.
He has overthrown you without pity,
he has let the enemy gloat over you,
he has exalted the horn[e] of your foes
(Lamentations 2:17 NIV)
Judah and Israel had a choice in deciding how God would show Himself faithful. God could have shown His goodness towards them, but His wrath was shown based off their haughty decision. What side of God's faithfulness will we allow Him to show us?
If God has called you to stop sexual sin, to stop gossiping, to cease from anger, have you stopped? If God has asked you to start seeking Him more, start being benevolent, or to start paying tithes, have you started?
If you have not, do it today. Allow God to be faithful to you in the way that will be most beneficial for you. That's what He prefers. That's why God sent Jeremiah to preach the same message to the same people for 23 years.
God is full of mercy and slow to wrath, but don't make the mistake of assuming you have time to do what He has asked of you. Because what if you don't? Don't waste another second. Act today. You never know... tomorrow could be the day He decides to show you His faithfulness, be it good or be it bad.
That's all I have for you this week, reader. Thanks for your time! Be blessed, stay encouraged, and Lord's willing, I'll see you next week.
Quin Arrington's debut book "And Then You Shall Have Good Success: Attaining Good Success God's Way" is available on Amazon in paperback and eBook format. Links listed below:
コメント