"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' - Jeremiah 33: 3 (NKJV)
We all have favorite Scriptures. Verses the provide us with an extra sense of comfort or assurance. Jeremiah 33: 3 is such a Scripture for me. Twenty words; in one short verse. Yet so much power and information for us as believers. Things we need to hold tight to in this crazy world. The Word of God is forever beloved. It does not change with the shifting times. It does not change in the face of cultural transformations. It has not been edited, updated, or modified - ever. That is because it does not need to be altered. It is just as relevant for people today as it was in the 1600's or the 600's. That is because God Himself is above all time. He is above all culture. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Amen and hallelujah!
Working backwards in the verse the first thing we learn is that we do not know everything. This may sound like a strange assurance but if we were to be honest, our flesh does tend to think it knows it all. But there is a lot of pressure with omniscience. Mortal shoulders can never bear the weight of being God, no matter how much we try. And we do try don't we? Whenever we charge ahead into the battle without consulting God and come out of it beaten and bloodied we sure were trying to be our own God. This is essentially what atheism is; at its core. It is man deciding to be God. Refusing to be ruled. Refusing to bow down. Refusing to submit to the Lordship of another. If those three things take you by surprise then you may not have a correct grasp of Christianity. The brand of Christianity being sold today in many churches is simply not real. It is not this seeker friendly, purpose driven lie that sells the notion that God is here to serve man. Real Christianity begins with the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives. It is wholly about bowing down our sinful self before Him and allowing Him to rule in every area of our life. Not to perfection. We all struggle. The areas we struggle with however are those very areas which we have refused His Lordship in. Pride is a very dangerous thing. It usurps what belongs to God. It is a prideful, human thing to think that we know it all. Just look at the approach science takes against faith. Only human arrogance can come up with a theory and swear it is fact, while denouncing faith. Science is faith. It is faith in man. Jeremiah 33: 3 reminds us that there are things we do not know. Many, many things we do not know. The fantastic part of this is that God wants to show them to us!
However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. - 1Corinthians 2: 6-10 (NKJV)
Not the wisdom of this age beloved but the wisdom of God! God wants to show us the things we do not know. The very deep things of God.
Next in Jeremiah 33: 3 we see that God also wants to show us great and mighty things. Well that sounds simple enough but let's dig a little bit. The dictionary defines great as "wonderful, first rate, and very good." These are the things God wants to show us beloved. The world wants to show us all of the negative things in life. The world wants to show us all the things that can go wrong. The darker side of humanity. Just turn on the news and what do you see? Just turn on network television and what do you see? God however wants to show us great things. Things of first rate character. Things that are wonderful. The very good things life does have to offer. This may not be our best life because heaven still awaits but that doesn't mean this life is supposed to be miserable. It is a matter of where our own focus is:
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. - Philippians 4: 8-9 (NKJV)
