Jeremiah 38-40; Psalm 74, 79

It finally happened: Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, just as Jeremiah said.  What thanks did he get for proclaiming the truth?  He was lowered down into a cistern, squashed in the mud.  Then he was again put in prison for daring to speak out against King Zephaniah.  But he never gave up, and he lived to see his prophesies come true.

A close examination of this story of the Babylonian takeover of Jerusalem shows that God provided a way out for his people if they would only listen to him.  All they had to do was surrender, and then they’d be allowed to live, even the king.  Most of them didn’t listen, but a few of them did and were allowed to stay behind to harvest the fields while the rest of the populace was taken back to Babylon.

I need a way out.  Sometimes I find it in the pages of a book.  Other times I find it in my daughter’s smile, in the blue-green depths of my husband’s eyes, or in the warmth of a sweet little doggy curled up in my lap.  For a moment, I close my eyes and just…rest.  Today I am thankful that God is not calling me to surrender to Babylon…I’m not quite sure WHAT is on his docket for me at this point, but at least I can say with certainty that surrendering to anyone other than the Lord is out!

Today was a decent day in terms of the way I feel, although I did move something I should not have moved and ended up with a sore back again.  I really think this back pain is a pulled muscle and is not related to the other health issues I’m facing.   The problem is resting.  I think the Lord may be working in me on this one…being patient, learning to recognize my limitations, and getting motivated to exercise so as to build strength and endurance.  I’ve spent most of my life doing everything I can to avoid much exercise…but that isn’t the way out for me.  Now if I can only get my actions to follow through…I may have a way out of my health issues.