“Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. — Jeremiah 1:8
I don’t believe that means we sit back and let life just happen – we fight of course for causes and outcomes that are important to Him, but we must let the outcome be in God’s hands. There is much in the world right now that seems unfair and unjust. It’s not a surprise to God, and in fact what looks like things falling apart to us are simply things falling into place.
- “Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and our hold on these things should be very loose.”
- “Don’t worry about whether or not you are being treated justly.” Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it.
Those two quotes from the devotional today by Oswald (reprinted below) jumped out at me – how tightly do we often cling to the things of this world? How often do we insist on justice either for us or for a cause we deeply hold. There should be no cause other than Christ that we hold on to.
Are we living our lives as eternal beings, knowing that our smidgen of time here on earth is just the beginning? We may think we are, but the real test is how those around us see us, how we live and respond to the challenges of life.
Does the fruit of our lives speak of the Kingdom of Heaven?
Personal Deliverance
In the book of Jeremiah, God poses a question with a terrifying answer: “Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people.” But he also makes a promise: “Wherever you go I will let you escape with your life” (Jeremiah 45:5). This is all God promises his children—that wherever he sends us, he will guard our lives. Our personal possessions are a matter of indifference to him; we have to hold them loosely. If we don’t, there will be panic and heartbreak and distress.
God is equally indifferent to our sense of what we deserve. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus suggests that when we are on his errands, there is no time to stand up for ourselves or to worry about whether people are treating us justly: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:11). To look for justice for ourselves is to be distracted from devotion to our Lord. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it.
If we are devoted to Jesus Christ, we know that we have no control over what we encounter. Our Lord’s message for us is this: “Keep working steadily at what I’ve told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you will remove yourself from my deliverance.” The most devout among us become atheistic in this regard. Rather than believing in God, we enthrone common sense and tack God’s name onto it. We lean on our own understanding, instead of trusting him with all our heart.
Dead Man Walking 
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