Reflections on our messed up world

I feel really sad this morning. Really, really sad. I’ve just read through chapters 8 and 9 and it’s made me really sad. I can’t help feeling that this could have been written today. For God’s people all over the world today. We have not come so very far. We are still getting it wrong. Let’s work our way through these chapters together and I’ll show you why.

When people fall down, do they not get up?
When someone turns away, do they not return?
Why then have these people turned away?
Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;
they refuse to return.   Jeremiah 8:4-5

God is providing us all with a way back to Him. Why are so few of us willing to turn back to God? Why do we cling to lies? The lies that tell us that we know best. That we know better than God. That we don’t need God. That there is no God.

I have listened attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent of their wickedness,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Each pursues their own course
like a horse charging into battle.  Jeremiah 8:6

Why are we all so stubborn? Why do we cling to our independence and refuse to accept help and advice? Why do we feel that we have to go it alone? We all think we know best. We charge on, ready to defend ourselves. Ready to fight our corner. One of the phrases repeated in our house daily (from Game of Thrones) is ‘You know nothing, Jon Snow’. Maybe we all need reminding of that and all need to live more humbly in the light of that.

Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know
the requirements of the Lord. Jeremiah 8:7

All the animals know how to live in the way they were created. To go with the rhythms of the earth and the seasons. And we have become less and less human as we have embraced ‘progress’. We have rejected natural sleep patterns and natural ways of eating and working. We are all becoming stressed and unhealthy and are having to turn to fitness regimes and raw food diets and relaxation techniques to undo all the damage that we have done to ourselves. There’s a move back to natural – a gathering revolution – because people are recognising that the way we are living is not natural, not the way for humans to live at all.

How can you say, ‘We are wise,
for we have the law of the Lord,’
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has handled it falsely?
The wise will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed and trapped.
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
what kind of wisdom do they have?

We have to be careful what and who we are listening to. There’s so much out there. So many interpretations and translations and commentaries on God’s Word (I know, this is one of them and I would definitely advise you not to swallow everything I have put before you!). So many gurus and life coaches and TV counsellors. It is the truth that will set you free. You will know what rings true. You have to practise listening to your intuition (of course, you’ll be good at deceiving yourself and getting it wrong sometimes). None of us can take on everything that we hear and read. We all need to earnestly pray that God will reveal His truth to each one of us – and that we will have the courage to walk in that way.

From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practise deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.
Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.  Jeremiah 8:10-12

We are all guilty of fiddling while Rome burns. Concerning ourselves with things that don’t really matter while the massive things go unnoticed and are not dealt with. Most of us prefer distraction to really dealing with our own greed and lies. We pretend everything is OK. We turn a blind eye to the very real suffering of God’s people all around the world. We pretend there is peace and all is well with the world. We make excuses for our bad behaviour and go on courses to minimise our shame.

You who are my Comforter in sorrow,
my heart is faint within me.  Jeremiah 8:18

I feel so sad right now.

The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.  Jeremiah 8:20

Winter is coming.

Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.  Jeremiah 8:21

Just look at the BBC News Homepage and tell me you don’t feel this way.

Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.  Jeremiah 9:1

Yes, I feel like crying right now too.

Oh, that I had in the desert
a lodging place for travellers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them.  Jeremiah 9:2

Yes, I feel like running away and escaping right now too.

Beware of your friends;
do not trust anyone in your clan.
For every one of them is a deceiver,
and every friend a slanderer.Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.  Jeremiah 9:4-5

It’s not about being paranoid. It’s just about always remembering that everyone is human. And human beings constantly surprise us.

Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts. Jeremiah 9:14

And yes, every single one of us is human. We will surprise ourselves at times with our foolishness and selfishness and simple ability to get things spectacularly wrong.

‘Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,’
declares the Lord.  Jeremiah 9:23-24

Have a listen to ‘My hope is built on nothing less’. It makes this point well. This is what it all comes down to. That God knows best. We cannot rely on our own wisdom and strength and riches. We cannot boast about these things. Know God. Obey God. Follow God. That is all that matters. The rest will follow.

Let’s finish with this verse from ‘How deep the Father’s love for me’ –

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection.