August 22, 2022
Daily Devotion:
"God's Direction…"
Jeremiah 42:19-20
New International Version
19 “Remnant of Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be sure of this: I warn you today 20 that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’
Conscientious believers are always in prayer that God will lead them. That is particularly true when crucial, life-changing decisions must be made: What job? What marriage? Which school? Which church? Where should we live? What house? There could hardly have been a more vital need for God's direction than in the aftermath of Jerusalem's destruction. It is not surprising that the ragtag remnant would seek out Jeremiah to learn God's will in the matter. "Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do," they implored. Yet quite unbelievably when Jeremiah conveyed God's message that they were not to go down into Egypt, they called Jeremiah a liar and went anyway!
As it subsequently appears, the only reason these folks went to Jeremiah in the first place was in hopes of getting God's blessing for what they had already decided to do. If that sounds crass, or arrogant, or stupid, have we ourselves ever been guilty of doing the same thing? When we pray for God's direction, do our own plans ever become the answer we are really after? If so, we deserve whatever true briar patch we get thrown into, and it won't be the comfortable briar patch we were hoping for!
The prayerful question is: When I ask God to lead me, are his options only my options, or am I truly willing to be flung into whatever circumstance he chooses?
