“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
-Jeremiah 29:11
For forty years, Jeremiah was charged with proclaiming repentance and truth to the Jews. He is known as the weeping prophet, because they refused to listen and it pained him.
Jeremiah knew what was coming…
At the end of his time in Jerusalem, Babylon had surrounding the city and they were starving the people from the inside out. It had gotten so bad, some were resorting to cannibalism.
The people were acting in ways they otherwise would not have done due to desperation and hunger.
In light of all this, God revealed a parallel to me in our world today.
COVID-19.
The phrase is being used everyday on every news station around the country and world.
People are in panic mode. Businesses are shutting down. The stock market is loosing money. The word recession is being thrown around. Schools are taking to remote education.
But, we are still are not ANYWHERE near where the Israelites were in their time of despair.
In fact, I have seen the goodness of the human heart shine brilliantly during this time. I have also seen the desperation of the human heart. These times can bring out the best and the worst in humanity.
Understandably, people are scared, but let’s remember three things:
- In their time of trial, God spoke words of hope into the Israelites lives. They had just endured catastrophic loss, and were now being taken captive to a foreign land and God said, “I HAVE A PLAN.”
- The Lord was not surprised. God was not surprised that the Babylonians had conquered Jerusalem. This was not just any city, this was the HOLY city. The Israelites saw it as the religious center. It is still seen that way today. They watched the Babylonians, who of the majority were not God-fearing people and were known for their ruthlessness and sin, gain control of Jewish ground. It was a major ordeal, but God was not surprised.
- We are made in God’s image. Any goodness we have, any inkling of politeness or kindness we possess, can be drawn to one source- the Creator. Humans, Christians or non-Christians, have the capacity to be overwhelmingly generous and sympathetic. In Genesis when God said, “Let us make man in Our image,” that meant He instilled attributes of Himself into mankind. Now, this does not mean we all choose to follow Him, but this does mean that in times of struggle and chaos, we have the ability to be kind and think of our fellow man.
So three important things to remember: God spoke words of hope. Let’s speak words of hope. The Lord was not surprised. Let’s rest in that. We are made in God’s image. Let us all turn to our Creator.
In the lowest of times, we serve a mighty, awesome, all-knowing God.
He is infinite.
He can see the bigger picture here, even if we can not.
Above all, remember He loves us and He desires a relationship with us, even in times like this… especially in times like this!
Don’t despair. Put your trust in God and hope.