Jeremiah 1:4-10

By Dave Brauer-Rieke

God comes to comfort. God comes to heal, to disturb, to reorganize, to destroy and overthrow, to build up and plant. Ours is an active and involved God with plans, hopes, dreams, and visions. Cover to cover the Bible gives testimony to this fact.

Some of the most spiritually influential people in my life have been those who teach me to see or watch. Some days I wake up wondering what I have to do this day – what I have to achieve or endure. I call this my Day-Timer mentality. I allow that little calendar on my handheld device to control my life. On other days – better days, days of faith – I waken and wonder what God will do today. I look up and out. I watch with expectation and joy mixed, perhaps, with a touch of apprehension and fear. I know that God will cause the wheat to grow, the sun to shine, and children to learn. I also know that God might call to me, the Involved to the watcher, and say, “I appoint you a prophet to the nations.”

“This is my Father’s world,” we sing in church. Indeed, this is God’s world, full of singing birds and awesome galactic spheres. The Creator shapes and speaks wonder into reality. The Holy One heals and hopes. God destroys, overthrows, builds, and plants. I would rather live my days in humble appreciation of this truth than under the arrogant weight of my own self-importance. So I try to remember that before I was born God loved me, and after I die God will continue to come, bringing joy and comfort to our world.

SUGGESTION FOR MEDITATION:

Spend a few minutes watching the world around you. Let life happen apart from your efforts. Try to trace the footsteps of God.