Daily Delight

Please start today's devotional by reading Jeremiah 14-17.

”Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him,” (17:7). 

In chapter 14, God sends a drought on Judah as a judgment with devastating consequences. Jeremiah intercedes for the people, asking God to come to their aid if Judah repented. But God refused because the people were wicked, stubborn and insincere. At the end of chapter 15, Jeremiah took his eyes off of God’s purposes and accused Him of not helping him when he really needed it. He felt sorry for himself. Jeremiah was angry, hurt, afraid, and lonely– God’s response was not to get angry; He responded by rearranging Jeremiah’s priorities.

In chapter 16, God brought the day of disaster that ended Judah, after Jeremiah pleaded with them consistently to turn from their ways. In chapter 17 is the Lord’s response to Judah’s sin.

There are a few things we can learn from Jeremiah’s attitude toward God when he felt abandoned by Him. When we take our eyes off of God’s purpose for our lives, we begin to overwhelm ourselves with selfish feelings that can easily overcome us. Remember these three things in times of overwhelming situations:

In prayer, we can reveal our deepest thoughts and emotions to God.

God expects us to trust Him, no matter what.

We are here to influence others for God…not let others influence us. (This is where Jeremiah’s feelings of doubt came in, because he was allowing the people of Judah to influence him- unintentionally.) 

The people of Judah (Israel) closed their eyes to their sinful ways, but their sin certainly wasn’t hidden from God. “He who sees everything cannot be deceived.” Why do we sin? …Because the heart is deceitful above all things (17:9). We sin because it is a matter of the heart. Our hearts have been inclined toward sin since the moment we were born. It may be easy to fall into a routine of forgetting or forsaking God…but we can still choose whether or not to continue in our sin. Do not yield to temptation. Instead ask God to help deliver you from it. 

{photo: @mariadanielledoka}

About the Author

Ashley Thrift≫ ≫ Ashley is a happy homemaker; a proud wife of her handsome and hard-working high-school sweetheart, and a very blessed mom of three amazing, crazy and energetic kiddos. In the good ole' southern upstate of SC, where Ashley is from, you will find her devoting herself to Jesus first, being a wife and mama second, and striving to be an overall woman of proverbs 31. When she is not running frantically off of coffee (chasing toddlers or carpooling; rushing to the the dance studio or ball fields), she is settled intimately in her Bible listening for the whispers of God. She also enjoys small group Bible studies with her mama friends, writing to serve God through her church writing team (NewSpring.cc) and her blog <www.p31shelaughs.com>, and still dating her husband even after seventeen years. She wears strength and dignity with laughter in her heart as she trusts God's faithfulness which has already assured her works all things to his glory (Proverbs 31:25). She knows that her story is being written by the one Almighty, and by His glory she tries to embrace what He is teaching her through each chapter- living on grace.