Good news

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Jeremiah 1:5

Good morning, dear friends,

These past few weeks have been difficult ones.

Not necessarily difficult for me, but seemingly all around me, people I know and love are really hurting.  Every day my Facebook feed tells of some natural disaster, or family crisis, or serious medical need, for which the Lord burdens my heart.

On top of all this are the mini dramas unfolding in my own household that every day could become overwhelming to bear, if I let it.

It's easy for me to see why others put the blame on God for their problems (wrongfully so, but I do understand.)  At times it is difficult for others to reconcile a loving, compassionate God with the sufferings that I see daily all around me.  I have had so many people in the past corner me with the question, "If God loves me, then why am I going through..." or "God cannot be love and allow ____ to happen.  Why didn't He stop it before it did?"

Why do children commit suicide?  Why do life-threatening car accidents happen?  Why are children being held hostage by divorcing parents?  Why do hurricanes level whole countries, or tornadoes destroy the homes of loved ones?

On a more personal note:  Why do children of godly parents serving the Lord turn their backs on God?  Why do Christian husbands leave their wives and children?  Why, in spite of my best human efforts, does apathy reign in my heart, or do I turn a blind eye to sin in my own life?  Why do I struggle to live for God, knowing that others around me do not?

The Lord has impressed me to read again through the book of Jeremiah in my personal time with Him.  A few years ago, right before our furlough, I was going through a valley-time, where my life was deeply hurt by the hurts around me.  I was bruised and weakened, my faith was drying up, and it was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Any light, period. It was hard to see the tunnel, even.

The book of Jeremiah doesn't sound like a place to look for comfort and encouragement, does it?  After all, Jeremiah was witnessing some of the darkest days of the children of Israel--when their country was being overrun by the Babylonians--and witnessed the final struggles of the nation of Israel before its captivity.

In spite of all of the destruction and horror that Jeremiah witnessed going on all around him, He found his greatest peace in knowing God.

Over the next few weeks, I am sure that I will be pulling out truths that God shows me through this book, but just this morning, I was comforted in just the first five verses with this amazing truth:

God knows me.

God knows the real me.  Not the "me" that I put on display for others. Not the "me" that is categorized by what I do, but the "me" that is who I am.  So many times when people ask me about myself, I tell them what I do.  I'm a missionary wife.  I'm a mom.  I teach English.  I like to sing, or read, or work in my garden.  But who am I really?

I am first and foremost a creation of God.

God is personally invested in my life.  He was there even before the beginning of my days in my life.  The verse at the top of this blog reminds me, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee..."  Like a painter preparing a canvass for painting a masterpiece, or an author preparing the page on which the first words will be written, God knew everything there was to know about me.  And because He knows everything, He knew where I would be today, how I was going to get here, and where I will be tomorrow, and all my tomorrows after that.

God created me with a purpose to be lived out.  This same verse goes on to say, "...and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet to the nations."  Of course, this was a specific calling of God on Jeremiah's life, but do I not have the same task before me?  Before I was even out of my mom's womb, God knew that one day I would be His servant, with a purpose in mind:  to talk to others about Him, to bring honor to Him, and to live a life pleasing to Him.  This is NOT predestination, as some might call it, but God's perfect knowledge of the world and my place in it.

There have been difficult days in my life, times when there seemed to be darkness all around me, and when circumstances all around me have darkened my outlook on life.  But the essential truths do not change:  there is a perfect God, I am His child, and He has given me a job to do.

This is the good news that I can find, even in the midst of my problems, and all the troubles going on around me.  Though times may be dark, God's love still shines as He is working out His plan, even in the midst of dark days around me.  This should be my rally cry:  God knows, and He cares, even when I don't always understand the happenings all around me.

Sufferings are real and personal, but so is God.  May my eyes be directed to Him, to understand my rightful place here on earth, and to do the job that God has called me to accomplish today.