Sunday 2 Sep 2012

Sunday Reading: Jeremiah 12:1-6

Key Verse: Jeremiah 12:2
2  Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

Devotion:
One thing we will probably always struggle with and find hard to understand is how the evil can prosper. Why should they be allowed to prosper when there are so many good people in the world who are not prospering, good people who are suffering and good people that seem to have fallen through the cracks? The answer to those questions is not simple, but is. They have not fallen through the cracks and they most certainly have not been forgotten or laid aside.

When things go wrong we look to God and ask questions like “why now?”, “why me?” or “why not them?”; but how often do we forget that God is righteous, Holy and Just. We should never question God as to why He allows things to happen the way that they do; but there is no reason why we cannot bring our questions and our requests to Him at any time. When we find ourselves desperate to find out why we need to remember a few facts about what is going on.

Firstly, God is the one who is in control and He is the one who is allowing things to happen the way that they are. God is the one who started the ball rolling and He is actually the one who does know what is going to happen and how things will turn out. But just because He does know that, it does not mean that He has turned His back on any one of us. God gives us the kick start and then allows us to make choices. If we are going to take the wrong roads, make bad choices and generally mess things up, then that is our choice; but that does not mean that God has forsaken us, rather we are probably running in the opposite direction!

Jeremiah was facing hard times having to watch society break down as well as watch on whilst some of the people rejected God and yet still seemed to prosper. He was struggling to come to terms with the choices that others were making, and when we see the choices that others make and how they seem to prosper, doubt sets in and we want to know “why”. When others are walking away from God, the evil one is going to be the one using them to try and bring doubt into our minds so that he can draw us away from our God. Faith in Him is what we need to rely on. Trusting in Him and His ways is all that should count.

Points to Ponder:
Do you get down watching others prosper?

Are you still walking with God?