Skip to main content

Asking God Questions - Jeremiah 12

Haven't we all wanted to ask God a few questions along life's way? If you haven't, you are a rare case. The trouble with this scenario is that God knows, and you don't. He plays the "omniscience-card" and always has the correct answer to any query.

In Jeremiah chapter 12, the prophet wants to know more about God's justice. Why are God's people treated so harshly, and the wicked seem to go their merry way?

God's answer is similar to other responses that he has given. "My unfaithful people deserve all that is coming their way. I have grown to hate my 'inheritance.' I will eliminate them, and the land will waste away. However, I won't let her enemies go unpunished. They too will pay a severe price for what they do to my people."

God's harsh justice and great compassion are seen in this chapter. Man's frustration with God's seeming lack of attention to what is going on is also in view. So, these sentiments are not new. Nevertheless, we are called to trust God no matter what the circumstances indicate. He knows what he is doing and does what is necessary to bring his plan to fruition.

It is all right to ask God for answers. He will respond through his word. We are puzzled and saddened by what is happening in Ukraine. This unwarranted aggression is troubling and infuriating. We wish that a US response was on the horizon. How is what is happening just? Why do the wicked flourish while the righteous suffer? Sound familiar? 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Daughter and dog...

About six months ago we discovered that Ann was pregnant and were very excited for she and Jackson. We will have babies on this side and that of the Atlantic. We weren't prepared for that news and we we were even less prepared for the news that our little dog is pregnant. To date we have spent more on the dog than on Annie (don't tell her... Ann that is). Ann has yet to discover whether her baby is a boy or girl. Both ultrasound images were inconclusive. Though I did some further investigation of my own and was startled with what I found. to me it looks as if the baby is definitely a boy and has some resemblance from both sides of the family. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.

Urgent Prayer (part 2)

Does God ever give you a gut punch? He did that just a few days ago when I watched a missionary story from the other side of the world. It was short but poignant, and it punched me in the belly button and brought a few tears too. One thing that shook me was the final statement that the missionary made. He was questioning himself and said, I wonder if what I have done will make a difference. This question comes to a missionary's mind now and again as they ponder how vast God's world is and how tiny one’s work is. As I thought, and identified, with his sentiment, the Lord brought a verse to mind that I had used recently in a youth talk. It was this one in John 12:24, “ Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” When, in Matthew, the sower sowed his seed, it was the Word of God. Here in John, Jesus indicates that the seed is the life of the servant. Jesus talked of his comi...

Entertaining Angels

Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hospitality is a gift. It can also be a learned trait. Some people seem as if having strangers in their homes is normal and natural. Others have to fight against themselves in order to have friends over for a meal.  The author of Hebrews says that some have entertained angels when they thought that they were helping a stranger. That's weird. This statement brings questions to mind. Do angels eat? Of course, silly, they eat angel food cake!  Seriously, who in the Bible entertained angels by accident? Well, how about Abraham, Lot or Jacob? Granted, Jacob's treatment of the Angel of the Lord was questionable. But he did wrestle the night away, when in fact that angel could have dislocated Jacob's hip early in the match.  Abraham, read Sarah, prepared a big meal and Lot had to offer ...