August 31

Jeremiah 40-44

In Jeremiah 42, a remnant from Judah wants to flees to Egypt in order to escape the invading Babylonians. Naturally, they are full of fear and want nothing more than to be safe and comforted. Before they travel to Egypt, they ask Jeremiah for guidance from the Lord. They say that no matter what God commands, they will obey. These people seem to have their hearts in the right place. What did they do when they were frightened? They turned to God and expressed a complete willingness to follow His ways and trust in His protection. This is exactly what all of us should do when we are afraid.

Unfortunately, it turned out that they were not sincere. They expected Jeremiah to say that God wanted them to flee to Egypt. But that's not what God wanted them to do. He wanted them to stay put and trust that He would protect and perverse them through all the trials that were coming their way. What did they do when Jeremiah told them something they didn't want to hear? They called him a liar and fled to Egypt anyway.

These people put their own expectations on God. Unfortunately, this is something we still do today. We expect God to make a situation turn out a certain way. Then we feel like He has let us down when we don't get what we want. It is important to keep the same attitude expressed in the beginning of chapter 42: "Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God." Oswald Chambers said, "God is not some eternal blessing-machine for people to use, and He did not come to save us out of pity - He came to save us because He created us to be holy."