August 31 - Jeremiah 40-44

1. Lawlessness (or lack of God’s order in our lives)

At first, there is a sign of stability in Judah under the Babylonian appointed governor Gedaliah; this attracted back to Judah Jews who were scattered to neighboring countries. Unfortunately there was a rebellion. Ishmael and other officers who were left in Judah assassinated Gedaliah, killing many others, including their own countrymen and Babylonians. Another group of army officers led by Johanan set out to correct these crimes. They defeated Ishmael and freed the people from his captivity. Everyone turned now towards Johanan for leadership.

This all seems like a chaos, like anarchy. A common behavior of societies after governments fall is to turn to looting and lawlessness. Similarly in our lives when we make decisions without God's truth and direction as a compass we find ourselves in chaos. On the other hand God gives clear directions for how to live our lives.

In what ways does God put your life in order?

2. God's plans for us.

Afraid and unsure of what to do next Johanan and the people of Judah approached Jeremiah, who was among them, and asked him to pray to God for direction: “Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do." (Jer 42:3)

God's direction to them was clear: stay in Judah. You will not be hurt. I will protect you. Do not fear. However if you don't obey this command then you will certainly be killed in Egypt. But this didn’t make sense to people! All the circumstances called for escape in Egypt. There could be no doubt to them that the King of Babylon would want to punish them for Gedaliah’s death.

It is funny how we can ask God for direction and when He gives one which is not convenient to us we say: 'Are you sure God? There must be a mistake!' The remnant people in Judah had good reason to fear, but still, when God's command is clear there are only two choices: to obey or not.

Some reasons why God's plans differ from ours:

- He wants to protect us from hurting ourselves or being hurt.

- He has something in store for us which is even better than what we are pursuing ourselves

- He has a bigger purpose which we do not understand

- He is teaching us something about Himself

2. Our response to God's plans

His people disobeyed yet again. They called Jeremiah a liar and did not believe God's word. They went to Egypt and continued to practice idolatry. They didn't even recognize that their current situation is a consequence of their broken relationship with their God and not due to the lack of burning incense to a pagan goddess. Their proud response to God was determined by their stubbornness in following their own plans.

The movie ‘Bella’ tells a story of a broken young man with haunting past who finds peace and happiness again by helping with someone else’s life. The young man said: "My grandmother always used to say: 'If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.'"

God knows best. I pray that this week our attitude is one of asking 'What is Your plan God? Reveal it to me' and then following the plan He reveals.