Imago Scriptura 108 - Jeremiah 32-33 - Overcoming

So, last night I was up until the end of that crazy World Series game 7. I didn’t have a huge rooting interest in either team but the game was too good to turn off. I definitely would have kicked myself if I had gone to bed and then read about the last few innings of the game that I would have missed. This morning, I was messaging with a dear friend of mine and he was sharing about how excited he is this morning and what the game meant to him. I also thought about how there’s really no one alive who can say “I remember rooting for the Cubs the last time they won.” Its really weird to think about that and an organization overcoming 108 years of futility.

As the 10th inning began, I got a text from the daughter of one of our church members who has been in hospice care to share that her mom had passed away an hour or so before. So, there we were texting each other at about 12am about her mom and plans for a memorial service.

And then this morning, I was reminded about the likely cancer diagnosis for another dear friend of mine and was thinking and praying about the road that he and his family may have ahead of him.  

Finally, I got to the gym and began reading my daily readings and came to Jeremiah 32-33 which have one of the stranger stories in the prophetic books - God commands Jeremiah to buy a field even as the nation is under siege by the Babylonians. 32:24-25 has Jeremiah saying the following to God…

“Even now siege ramps have been built up around the city in order to capture it. War, starvation, and disease are sure to make the city fall into the hands of the Babylonians who are attacking it. Lord, you threatened that this would happen. Now you can see that it is already taking place. The city is sure to fall into the hands of the Babylonians. Yet, in spite of this, you, Lord God, have said to me, “Buy that field with silver and have the transaction legally witnessed”

Jeremiah is looking at what is around him and what is happening and he is confused, overwhelmed, doubting, fearing. I have been there too and the other circumstances, people face similar things. The reality of the present is so very clear and seems overwhelming and the future is unclear and hazy.

Yet, I love what came right after…Verse 26…

The Lord answered Jeremiah. “I am the Lord, the God of all humankind. There is, indeed, nothing too difficult for me.”

Wow. God declares God’s own power and identity and then the reminder that there’s nothing too big for God. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. (Paul’s words at the end of Romans 8 - same thing - nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord).

Nothing too difficult for God.

That’s a necessary word for me today. Its a word that I hope speaks into the lives of those who struggle today. Its a word that I will be reminding myself of as our country finishes this challenging election season and there will be people who are frustrated and angry (maybe even including me depending on the results) about what is decided on the 8th.

I am the Lord, the God of all humankind. There is, indeed, nothing too difficult for me.

Amen. Let me live that, Lord.