Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, "Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. As for me, I will dwell at Mizpah, to represent you before the Chaldeans who will come to us. But as for you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and store them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken." Jeremiah 40:9,10It would be understatement to say that the book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament is both depressing and sad. A prophet called by God spent his lifetime warning the people of God that their disobedience would lead to destruction and exile, knowing full well that they wouldn't listen.
My pastor has been preaching through this book during the past year, patiently and faithfully pointing to the glimmers of hope buried amongst the sadness, the grief, and the lament. In the above verses Gedaliah spoke, he who had been appointed to oversee the remnant of God's people remaining in Judah after Jerusalem's fall to Babylon. Life as they had known it had ended for God's people. Due to their sin and unbelief, they had experienced God's judgment and were living in captivity and exile. Yet out of His mercy and because of His faithfulness to His covenant, God had promised to redeem and restore his people, turning their mourning into gladness.
In the meantime, Gedaliah told God's people to wait in the land and look for the wine and the fruits and the oil.
We wait, God's people do, for the restoration of all things, the making of all things new. We dwell in hostile land, waiting for deliverance from this broken and fallen world. In the meantime, we look for the wine and the fruits and the oil, the gracious gifts from the hand of our loving Father.
Continuing the count the gifts:
565. There is always wine and fruit and oil to be found.
566. Challenging teaching and heavy, deep, and real conversations during women’s retreat.
567. New England fall colors. There’s a reason people travel from all over the country to see this!
568. Fun movie night with husband.
569. Venison pie and his mother’s carrot cake recipe for husband’s birthday.
570. Black and gold chips for watching the Pittsburgh Steelers—gift from my baby girl.
571. Elderly saint asking son to play music for seniors’ Christmas luncheon.
572. Brother willing to invest in the life of his nephew.
573. Nephew playing Charlie Brown in school Christmas program
574. Starting the Christmas amaryllis.
576. Not being defined by the past; my identity is defined in Christ.
577. Christ is my comfort zone.
578. Two words: All Things.
7 comments:
#576 I SO agree! And I want to be a glimmer of hope while waiting, actively waiting.
Oh it's true that we are waiting for the restoration of all things! Wonderful.
Venison pie?
Venison pie--the beloved Swede is a hunter (I know, I just lost half my readers), and venison pie is one of my very favorite ways to cook venison. Very labor intensive--takes most of the day to make, but very, very good. Recipe is out of the L.L. Bean Cookbook. It's probably the recipe that caused all that trouble between Jacob and Esau. Probably.
Hey, I keep meeting up with the same amazing ladies on every blog I go to! I'm not kidding!
Nancy, I've never had venison pie, but do love venison (husband's family used to hunt back in the day).
Christmas amaryllis...a reminder to start!
Blessings to you!
Yes, He makes all things new!
I was going to ask for the Venison pie recipe. My daddy has shot two deer so far this year and he's generous with the meat. I need different ways to cook it.
I like this! Yes, I'm waiting for deliverance and, yes, I'm looking for wine, fruits, and oil.
Love 565 and 577!!!
... and 568 always accompanies popcorn, here.
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