The Life-Giving God

 Often God does not answer our prayers in the way we expect.  Because we believe there is no time like the present for God to do His miraculous works we can become disillusioned and complacent when nothing good seems to happen.  So many of our problems stem from a perspective which focuses on the problems rather than God who is sovereign, powerful and glorious.  We forget God operates outside of the confines of times to accomplish His purposes which are far greater in scope and impact than our requests give Him credit for.

Baruch was a man who feared God who was troubled and dismayed with the state of Israel.  Life was hard and the word from the LORD was not uplifting in the slightest.  When it seemed life could not be any worse, life became exponentially more so!  After Baruch wrote the words of woe dictated by the prophet Jeremiah he thought, "Woe is me!  The LORD has added grief to my sorrow and I find no rest."  A child of God who feels and says this often has neglected to consider the goodness of God who graciously speaks to us and brings comfort to our hearts.  The fiery trial we beg God to bring to an end may be permitted to continue, and the exercise of faith in looking to the LORD will work to refine us through it.

God had a word for Baruch and for those who find rest elusive in Jeremiah 45:4-5:  "Thus you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will pluck up, that is, this whole land. ⁵ And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh," says the LORD. "But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go."  Baruch was looking for rest where none could be found, in the cessation of judgment from the LORD upon a rebellious, faithless people marked for judgment.  God pointed out how Baruch's lack of rest came from striving to seek great things for himself when he could have been best served seeking God.  God would tear down what He had built like a builder does an unsafe, condemned house from its foundation to make a habitable structure again.

Israel would go into captivity and there would be great adversity, yet God would give Baruch life wherever he went.  In Jerusalem, Babylon and along the way God would be a loving Father to Baruch.  It may not have been the life Baruch would have chosen for himself, but it was better than he or anyone else deserved.  Has not also God been gracious to us through Jesus Christ who is the Resurrection and the Life?  In Christ we are protected and preserved in all seasons of life because our souls have been redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus who died on Calvary and rose from the dead so we can live forever.  We have a life to live beyond the boundaries of this earth in the presence of God forever!  Isn't He the great One we ought to seek, the God who is with us and will never leave or forsake us?  The God who gave us life knows how to live to the full, and this abundance is ours in Jesus Christ alone.