Jeremiah 42:2-3

…And said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us to the LORD your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but a few of many, as you can see), that the LORD your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.”

Jeremiah 42:2-3

The above verses are spoken by Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah and other leaders. They certainly seemed sincere and genuinely seemed to want God’s guidance. Yet Jeremiah 43:2 says, And all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.’”

Chapters 42 and 43 are Jeremiah’s ministry in a nutshell. In Chapter 42, a group of leaders came to Jeremiah and said, “Whatever you tell us, we’ll do” and then after Jeremiah gave them instructions, including not to go to Egypt, this same group said, “You’re lying! The Lord would never say that!”

I’ve encountered the same thing counseling. I’ve listened to the situation and then given what God says about it in His word. Many times, the person or people I’m counseling will say something like “That doesn’t work for us, there must be another way” and like the leaders above, go off to Egypt, or the world, to look for answers.

If we’re going to live a blessed life, we have to take God’s word as truth and follow it even if it’s hard to do.

Keep me out of the world!

Pastor Ron Kitchell