My People: Grace in the Wilderness: Prayers and Poetry

Reading Jeremiah 31:1

“‘At that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.’”

At that time. That’s one of the hard parts, Lord. Knowing what the right time is and when it is and is there any chance of missing it?

         And if we miss it how many chances do we have to get it back?

         Yet the work does not sound like it is of our doing, but by Your hand.

          So how do we watch and wait and be available?

Lord, please keep us listening and trusting and waiting in faith. Show us how to discern whether answers are confirmed by Your purpose or are false lures to keep us from obedience to Your time and Your purpose.

Your Thoughts,

Grace in the Wilderness: Prayers and Poetry

Last week, as we finished our reflections on Listen in Romans 8, we ended with the reminder that listening can require not only a new perspective but boldness as well. “And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.” 1 John 5:14-15

Through this next contemplation, through Jeremiah 31, we will hear the Lord’s invitation to embrace boldness also when in captivity, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. God encourages His people, then and now, to accept and believe in His grace regardless of circumstances. He promises to renew His covenant, to restore, to return, to rejoice—even within the sorrow and weeping and uncertainty of when relief will come. We are reminded to remember His timeless Grace regardless of our present wilderness. And His ongoing invitation to a personal relationship.

Mondays we will reflect on a Scripture passage. Wednesdays consider meditative questions. Fridays respond with poetry.

Thank you for sharing in our journey. Please share as you discover your own questions and insights, prose, and prayers.