What is the most important question you can think
of? Maybe it depends on your age. For some it might be, “How can I make more
money?” or “Which career will I choose?”
Still for others, “What school will I attend?” For others, “Where can I find that special
person I want to meet?” or “How can I best follow my dream?” As important as these questions may be, the
Bible says there is a more important question that must come first and should
always remain first. The prophet
Jeremiah said this is a question you want to keep asking yourself all the way
through life. The question is “Where is God in my life?”
Things went terribly wrong for the Israelites in
Jeremiah’s day, and they looked everywhere for a solution, but found none.
Jeremiah forcefully blamed those responsible for the national dilemma, “They
did not ask, 'Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us
through the barren wilderness…” (Jer. 2:6).
The prophet’s preaching was soul searching. “Does a maiden forget her jewelry, a bride
her wedding ornaments? Yet my people
have forgotten me, days without number” (Jer. 2:32). How could this possibly happen? Jeremiah responds: “This is what the LORD
says: "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far
from me? They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves” (Jer. 2:5).
This question was not just for the Israelites; it is
for us today. We, like ancient Israel, have followed worthless things. We, too, have been distracted by petty pursuits
and gotten our eyes off of the Lord. Just as they were infatuated by something
else and were lured away, so are we, as the way a husband or wife becomes
unfaithful to their marriage partner. Look
around you, and you will see unfaithfulness all around, and we are paying a
terrible price for it.
It is time to ask this question with soul searching
intensity, “Where is God in my life?” “Where is God in my family?” Remember,
God never left Israel; they left him. Is it possible to be faithful to God in
the midst of a faithless world? Jeremiah would tell us yes, it is possible. The
way back to faithfulness is through repentance. Are you as close to God as you
want to be?
Jeremiah asked God to give
him an assessment of his spiritual condition, and God gave this report to the
prophet: "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses? If you
stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?”
(Jer. 12:5).
God was saying to Jeremiah, if you can’t handle your
present challenges, how do you expect me to entrust you with the great things I
have planned for your life? What God expected from Jeremiah was complete
trust. This is crucial in our spiritual formation and development. Superficial
faith can look pretty good until it is tested. I believe there are some major
trials ahead for the church here in America, and many of us are not prepared to
run with the horses because we have been stumbling through our menial daily tasks.
We still find it hard to get along with family members and our brothers and
sisters in Christ. We still struggle to control our emotions and keep our
feelings in check. For many of us, our relationships are impoverished because
of our inconsistency in living the authentic Christian life. Let me challenge
you to ask this question every day, “Where is God in my life today?”
