e-votional
a message to encourage and uplift from College Heights Baptist Church
Wednesday January 21, 2009
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We are excited to be able to provide the first twenty-six e-votionals (including a gospel presentation) in a printed booklet. The booklet, entitled Tough Life-Big God, is now available. The cost is $2 per book. You can email us if you would like to reserve a copy (or copies), or just pick some up on whenever the church is open. Also, you can check us out on-line at www.docdeer.wordpress.com.
10 ”For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. – Jeremiah 29:10, NASB
The longest three minutes in sports are the last three minutes of an NBA game. An endless array of time-outs, commercial breaks, clock stoppages, fouls and turnovers just makes the game drag on. On and on it goes. It seems like it takes an hour to get through those 180 seconds. It lasts forever. You sit and watch, wondering if this game is ever going to end.
There are times in life when things tend to go too fast (ask any parent about this). There are also times when everything seems to last too long. God tells Jeremiah that Judah is going to be in captivity for seventy years. That’s a long time. It’s much longer than the false prophets were telling people. It’s much longer than most of the people wanted to believe. No one likes to suffer, let alone for seven decades.
A few years ago, I had to go on dialysis. As I began my treatments, I was very fortunate to know that I had a potential donor already lined up. The fact that I would only be on dialysis for a short time was a tremendous encouragement to me. I don’t know how would have felt if it had been longer. I still think about the other people sitting in those chairs, hooked up to a life-saving machine, waiting.
When we are in the midst of difficulties, it seems like they are never going to end. The days are long and the nights are longer. The weight on us just intensifies each day the trial lingers. It is not pleasant to go through hard times, let alone go through them for an extended period of time. A prolonged illness, an extended lay-off, or an estranged spouse are not easy things to endure. The hope we have is the light at the end of the tunnel. The light is the promise of God.
God tells Jeremiah that when the appointed time is up, He will visit His people and fulfill His promise. He will bring them home. God always keeps His promises. He always comes through. The challenge for us is to endure until He does. It’s not easy. I wish it were. But the hope we have is that God is faithful. He has not forgotten us or abandoned us. He will come to us and fulfill His promise. When we face troubles and difficulties, we can be encouraged by the fact that God will keep His word to us. He indeed will bring us home again.
Pastor Darrell
