Jeremiah 32-34

In my mind’s eye I can see and feel the terror of the people of Judah as the king of Babylon kept them under siege.  Land outside the walls was being captured and burned.  Destruction of property was everywhere to be seen.

And yet the Lord used that time of chaos to show his people that this hard road would one day end.  There was a light at the end of that tunnel, he promised them.

I’ve noticed that the Lord often had Jeremiah do object lessons for the people in order to help them understand a concept.  Rather than just proclaim a message, God had Jeremiah ACT or DO something.  In these chapters, He told Jeremiah to buy a field from his cousin.

An ordinary real estate transaction…in the middle of a war!  That would be like you and I purchasing real estate at full price in a lawless border town today.  But Jeremiah’s obedience to God’s command provided a clear picture that one day God would restore their nation to such an extent that normal life would resume and fields would be bought and sold.

I think the Lord is using an object lesson with me.  It’s called pain.  I think maybe I do need to try to move my surgery up a bit.  I spoke to a friend today who had this kind of surgery…but she did experience nausea afterwards.  I feel the fear trying to hitch a ride on my back.  I keep quoting scripture — GOD does not give me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.  And the pain I’ve gone through these past few days makes me ready to do almost anything to make it better.

I am so sad for my family.  All they hear from me is how much I hurt.  At the moment it’s the middle of my back and just a generalized ache in my abdomen.  I suspect I am just reeling from the severe pain of yesterday.  My mother in law told me I needed to just sit on my behind and rest for several days in a row.

I wish I could do that!  I wish I could sit or curl up in bed with a heating pad for an entire day.  But for now my need for routine (not leaving dirty dishes in the sink and laundry in the washing machine overnight), plus my duties as CC Director (orientation is tomorrow night) keep me pushing through the pain.  And someone has to get breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Maybe tomorrow my sweet hubby can do more for me.  I hate asking him, though, because he’s so busy with work and school.  In the meantime, the Lord gets me through.  The pain isn’t excruciating today, so for that I am thankful.  I keep asking Him to take it away, to heal me, to make me feel normal again.  I’m still holding out for some supernatural, almighty, all loving healing in the shadow of the cross.

Jeremiah experienced the supernatural power of the Lord when his cousin came to sell him a field, just as the Lord told him.  God gave him an object lesson…buy a field in a war-torn country…to demonstrate his commitment to restore his people. I pray the Lord will send me an object lesson to demonstrate his commitment to restoring this creaky old shell of a body. Even if it takes 70 years for me to be restored (which is as long as it took before God sent them back home from exile in Babylon), I know He will do it by the Name of Jesus.

There is a light at the end of my tunnel, too.