“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness; I will build you up again...” (Jeremiah 31:3).The old, more than the young, understand what it feels like to feel unloved and forgotten. The old, more than the young, understand what it feels like to feel broken down in the heart and the body. People of spiritual faith and people without spiritual faith all share these common, sad, debilitating experiences and feelings, at one time or another. Some people are daily haunted and beat down by them. But the words of the prophet Jeremiah, if lashed onto tightly, will lift the heart, mind and soul above and beyond the shadow of despair and sadness, into a realm of truth so wonderful that words cannot express and gratitude cannot equal it. And the good news is that these words of the prophet were spoken to help those that believe and those that do not believe in God. Therefore, the great declaration can save everyone who understands it.
The words of the prophet proclaim a reminder to those who believe. The words of the prophet proclaim an invitation of mercy to all who would become believers. God loves every person that He has created, and He has made it clear that He desires that none should perish. So these words of the prophet are as a healing balm to the souls of believers and an outstretched hand to unbelievers. For the believer, there is a reminder of a promise that will lift them up into that realm of truth so wonderful. For the unbeliever, there is an invitation to own that same promise and be lifted up to that same realm. To accept that invitation, and enjoy all of the benefits of this wonderful realm of truth, believers and nonbelievers must simply extend the mustard seed of faith, which God has given to them, and He will take it from there.
To the nonbeliever I say, put aside your doubts and questions, and focus on the goodness and beauty that surrounds you - those things that you can see, touch and experience. Those things are far more helpful to you in coming to faith than are your doubts and questions, for even believers have doubts and questions. And the human heart and mind are never satisfied, so doubts and questions will only keep you blind spiritually. Instead, again, I say, look around you and see, touch, experience the good and the beautiful, and you shall see God. For God has created all of these things for you. And by experiencing, by seeing, by touching, the doubts and the questions, which have kept you from believing, will move to the back burner, where they belong. You need not remove them from the stove, but they are not of primary importance to your soul, so they must be put on the back burner. Only a foolish cook focuses on the side dishes; proper cooks focus upon the meat. Only once the meat is cared for can the cook afford to focus on the side dishes. So look around, see, touch, experience the goodness and beauty. Those things which you can see, and touch and experience are the ingredients required to build the meat recipe called faith. And even with just a mustard seed of faith, you will be able to deal with the things on your back burner, and tend to them properly. However, it all begins with faith, and faith comes through hearing the Word of God. So hear these words:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth. The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19).
Again I say, look around you, nonbeliever, and see, touch, experience and put to the back burners your doubts and questions that entangle you in misery and keep you from belief in The Lord, Who has made all of these wonderful things for you, the things of earth that you can see, touch and experience: your friends, your parents, nature, the heavens, love, joy, peace, everything you can see, touch and experience! God gave all these things to you for your enjoyment and sustenance, and as a sign to you of His existence. Sure, you have doubts and questions regarding certain aspects of faith, but they are all back burner issues when compared to first believing in Him. They are important, but not as important as coming to faith to begin with. So, come! Do not put changing burners off for another day! Those that are God's are loved with an everlasting love. Unbelief keeps you out of His House, His family. Listen to me. Once you come into this house, only then will He begin to answer your back burner questions and satisfy your doubts. You come to God on His terms, not your own.
And to the believer I say, join me in slowing down to read, really read, the words of the prophet Jeremiah. We need to slow down. We need to read with our hearts, not just our eyes. We need to remember that this is The Word of God. If we read these words only with our eyes, we will not understand with our hearts; and it will be as if we never read them at all.
Look at the words, really look at them with your heart. “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Remember who you are, in light of those words, and remember who God is. Slow down and think and remember! He says, “I have loved you, I, The Great 'I AM!'” This is not our mothers or fathers or sisters or brothers or friends that has said this, etched this, for all time, upon the universe and declared it before the presence of saints and angels; it is The Lord Himself! It is The Lord! It is The Lord, Who introduced himself to Abraham! It is the Lord, Who saved Noah and Isaac and Ishmael and Daniel and Lazarus and the thief on the cross! It is The Lord, Who raised his Only Son, Jesus, our Savior, from the dead, after three days! It is The Lord, Who is the Friend of Moses, the giver of His Laws! It is the Lord, Who awed and brought low the mighty Pharaoh and conquering kings that had once oppressed and held captive His beloved people! It is The Lord, Who gave us, through the Words and Presence of His One and Only Son, these other, reinforcing promises:
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (John 14:18-21).
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20).
It is This Person, The Lord of Heaven and Earth, Who says to you, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” and an “unfailing kindness,” and it is He that promises to rebuild you again!
Sickness, adversity, despair, sorrow, sadness, wickedness, persecution, and ten million other, nasty and debilitating things that one could possibly name cannot succeed over The Lord and over those that He loves with an everlasting love. You are one of those people if you love and obey Jesus! The bible declares that no weapon (that includes spiritual, invisible weapons) devised against you will stand; that means that He, The Lord, will defeat every bad thing troubling you, and put it under your feet, through faith and trust in Him. Though sick and dying, yet will you have real joy and strength in your heart because you know that you will live with Jesus forever and never will your soul taste of death and eternal torment, which comes from separation from Him. Though beleaguered and fatigued by many hardships, disappointments, persecutions, doubts, failings and struggles, yet will you rise above them again, into that realm of truth so wonderful, because you know that The Blood of Jesus washes away every sin and restores you to The Father as a clean, new-born child of God. Though Satan should buffet, though trials may come, you will slow down and think of what He has told you and of what you believe, really believe, and you will be able to say “it is well with my soul.”
You, believer in Jesus Christ, are loved, by The Lord of Heaven and Earth, with an “everlasting love,” a love that has reached out to you with “unfailing kindness.” And this same Person, The Lord of Heaven and Earth, Who has loved you with an “everlasting love” that is “unfailing” in “kindness,” has gone one step further by promising, PROMISING, to “build you up again!” What more can we possibly ask for, which can make us rise up again, into that wonderful realm of truth? What more can we possibly hold on to, which is more sure? What power and strength can we possibly have than God Himself? And what love can we possibly experience than that love, which is of God and from God, that EVERLASTINGLY and UNFAILINGLY KINDLY lifts us up and places above and beyond the temporal sufferings of life, and places us into the arms of His unmatched embrace?
So, the words of the prophet may be felt more by the old than by the young, but they are words for everyone. And everyone can respond, no matter what age they might be. To the nonbeliever, they are words that invite you to Himself and His House; to believers, they are words to remind you that you are already in His House, already under his sheltering wings. But, to everyone, they are words with a promise. The promise, says The Lord, is this: regardless of your earthly pains and sufferings, if you belong to Me, I will build you up again!
You may have to wait until you are with Him for that complete rebuilding, but you can be sure, as sure as The Word of God is real and eternal, that you SHALL NOT remain in misery. So, rejoice and be glad, for the sun will come out tomorrow. For we are loved with an everlasting love, a love that is unfailing in the expression of its kindness. A love that is spoken by the One that has proven Himself at keeping promises, a love that rebuilds again.
The sun will come out tomorrow. It will. And nothing can stop it from rising, for The Lord has spoken it.
God bless you!
