Grace In The Wilderness

I'm reading through the Bible chronologically this year.  I'm in the book of Jeremiah and it is HEAVY.  There's a lot of wrongdoing.  God Himself says the people are wise--at doing evil!!  Jeremiah's job is to tell the people that they are making bad choices.  But no one was interested in anything Jeremiah or God had to say.  God tells His people to stand by the roads and look for the good way and walk in it.  But the people said "No, we will not walk in it."  As a result, Jerusalem falls and the king of Judah and a big portion of the Israelites are carried away in captivity to a foreign land.  Jeremiah is worn out and sick with sadness over the message he's charged with passing to the Israelites.  And it's easy to see why he's known as the "weeping prophet".  (It really is a fascinating book, this is only a very minimal overview).

I'm a few days behind in my reading and, although I'm trying to read with full attention, I find myself skimming.  A few familiar verses pop up--"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." (Jeremiah 17:7-8); "If I say, 'I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,' there is in my heart as it were a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot." (Jeremiah 20:9) and probably the most famous verse in all of Jeremiah, 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." But other than those verses, I was just reading to mark it off my list.  But then.chapter 31 happened.

"The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness."  (Jeremiah 31:2) Those words jumped out at me.  I  stared at them as my heart started racing.  We have found ourselves in a wilderness, haven't we?  We find ourselves just wanting to go back to the beginning of 2020 and start over.  Or at least go back to  "normal" and savor it one more time.  I'm sure we would never take anything for granted again--being able to hug our friends and family, going to the grocery store without a mask, going out to eat, going to a concert, going to church.  Nothing feels normal and we would go back in a heartbeat. But we are in this wilderness together and there's no way out but to go through it.  But to do that, we need grace.  I need grace from you when we disagree and tempers flare over opinions,  You need grace from me when things are out of our control and we are unwilling to bend to circumstance.  But the only grace that will really get us through the wilderness is the grace that comes from the hand of God.   God says to us "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued in my faithfulness to you" (Jeremiah 31:3) He continues with "Again I will build you, and you shall be built.  Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers."  This is a specific promise to the people of Israel, but please Lord, let it be true of us, too.  But until then, I hope to set aside my opinions and anger and frustration and pride for the greater good of finding grace in the wilderness.  Not because you deserve it, not because I deserve it, but because God desires it.  And only then will our mourning be turned to joy.