Is God Reliable?
Is God Reliable? Well there is a loaded question. One I can answer with a resounding, “Heck ya!” AND most of you know my motto: “If it is not a Heck Ya, than it is a NO!” That simple. This question for me personally is a HECK YA! Why? I would love to share this. Matter of fact I can’t wait to share this!
I was reading my bible this morning and it came to me in a whisper, “Amy, today I want you to write about the first R in suRrender.” I am not kidding either and for those who know me well, I have literally asked my bible study friends, “How do you hear God?” I heard Him! Loud and clear I heard Him! In Jeremiah 33:2-3, which is the chapter I am on in my SOLO online devotional group.
Oddly enough my SOLO girls skipped this chapter, which always throws this recovering Catholic into a bit of a tisy, but this morning it did not. It was clearly just God and me. And I want to share how it went down because I still have chills.
The Verse goes like this from The Message:Bible, “This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable, and lasting, known everywhere as God. ‘Call to me and I will answer you, I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.’ “ Jeremiah 33:2-3~
Pretty powerful verse. The way our study goes is you read the verse then you move to the THINK portion of the study. In the think portion of our study it asked me what word or phrase settled deeply in my soul and why? For me it was, “Call to me and I will answer you”….not only will God answer me he will tell me marvelous and wonderful things that I could never figure out on my own. I sat there in that because it was obvious why the verse stood out. Call to me and I will answer you. Like a child who calls to a parent and the parent comes running. Simple right? This verse is a guarantee that God hears me and will answer me. WRONG! Amy Berry’s mind started reeling….what about all those times of pain and suffering and all the bad that has happened to my family lately God? Why death God? Why cancer in kids or cancer in general? Why Covid? Why racism? Why suppression? Why friends against friends due to political hot topics? Why bad cops? Why bad people? Why God? That is where my mind went……and it was not pretty.
Are you there God? What is happening in this world? Can I rely on you? These are real questions he wants to hear from us. Ask him….he is there for you.
What did I do? Did I get angry? Maybe a little, but I did what anyone should do when there are questions. I dug deeper. I asked more questions. I got to the bottom of Jeremiah and what I learned was powerful for me and I hope it is for you too.
Now I am going to assume most of you are like me and have no clue of the context so I will map it out. If you do, bare with me. I keep things real simple for my simple mind. So Jeremiah was a prophet who back in the day was put in prison or went into hiding quite a bit for preaching about God and about sins and what can happen when we sin. Pain, disappointment, destruction, you know bad stuff. A lot of people thought of him as the weeping prophet, but in reality Jeremiah knew God! He knew God had a plan for us, one that we would prosper with no pain only hope and a beautiful future. Jeremiah was hopeful! He was a believer in God and he thought it was a personal matter and that each person had to take responsibility for their own personal relationship with God. Very much like today, but he preached it to the rooftops and was put in prison or was in hiding for it very unlike today. Jeremiah understood this: Religion must be deep within EACH individuals hearts and lived out in their lives. Not a group of people or a building….religion for Jeremiah was personal.
Good stuff huh….I think so, but it dawned on me. Jeremiah was in prison, alone, very much like I have been lately. Only my prison is not bars. Mine is hopelessness like his, doubtful like his, wondering if God forgot me and my family and I am sure like Jeremiah felt. And…..God visited Jeremiah in a vision just like he did me today in my mind. I just did not get the vision, I got it in a thought and a sense of peace. He promised Jeremiah he would answer and he has promised me. Maybe not how I want but, he knows best. Just like a parent with a teenager who asks to do something and we know what is best. Or a child who wants a toy and we say no because we know they don’t need that. God knows what is best. Do I trust that 100 percent. If I am being honest…..No, I do have a little doubt….that is the control freak in me….but I desperately 100 percent want to trust it. That is a start.
I relate to Jeremiah a lot really. He is alone in a prison and I feel alone a lot lately. He is behind bars watching people have fun, go on with life, some sinning and getting away with it and he is suffering and truly believes in God. If I am being honest I have felt this way since 2017. Even before The Storm hit my family. The closer to God I get the more imprisoned I feel, but yet I also feel this peace I have never had. It is so hard to explain. I see myself stuck in this “New Life” while others get to continue doing what they do. Right, wrong, or indifferent this is just how I feel. Maybe it is because I am growing in areas I needed to grow. I know I wanted to heal from pain, from suffering, from disappointment….Oh Lawd the disappointments! Sometimes it feels like one storm after another hits and I am trying desperately to trust and grow and then BOOM! Just like that a morning like this morning happens and I feel God. I hear God. And I relate to someone from biblical times and I know God has a plan. Do I know what it is? No! Do I know what he is working on for me behind the scenes and do I know in my heart of hearts he will answer me when I cry out. Yes and no!
No I don’t know what is happening behind the scenes, but yes I know he wants me to call on him. I know he is RELIABLE and if I SuRrender to him and obey he has a beautiful plan for me and for my family. A plan to prosper me and my family, not harm us, and a plan to give us hope and a future.
This morning God came to me! And I have hope!!!!! Do you? He is RELIABLE! AND YOU ARE WORTHY OF HIS LOVE AND FUTURE HE HAS IN STORE FOR YOU. Do you believe that?
Until Next Time,
XO,
Amy
