Our Desolate Places

Everyone has desolate places in their lives.

Where hope once sprung up with a lively ambition is all but a dry well. Where dreams were once planted in the soil of youthful zeal only brought a harvest of tangled weeds. There are certain things you don't talk about anymore to your spouse, friends or co-workers. It's too painful. You are afraid it might stir some lingering hope that it is still possible even if it seems too late to do anything. Do overs in life are never guaranteed. Poor decisions and sinful choices were set into motion leaving a wake of broken relationships, ill bodies and sadden minds.

So why should any good, any hope and any blessing come out of this life?

But God.

But God says, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?" (Jeremiah 32:27, KJV). The ink may still be fresh on the divorce papers but God says differently. The Dr. says your life hangs in the balance as cancer rages but God says healing is possible.

The difficulty is not with God. Rather it's hard for us to hear those tender whispers of hope from His lips. I know and I'm here to help you. We look around to find every plausible excuse to why God can't do something when we need to simply raise our hands toward heaven in surrender. Say yes to His possibilities though in the natural there seems to be no way out. The marriage may be dead. The body is sick or financial hardships push you out of your home. Whatever impossible or impassable circumstance you find yourself God says watch what I can do!

In the context of this Scripture, Jeremiah looked around his beloved city of Jerusalem and could only foresee the pending destruction that waited as the Chaldean army stood outside the walls. People will be murdered, homes destroyed and the temple wasted. Until God told him to purchase a piece of property as symbol of a coming restoration. God promised to turn the captivity and bring His people home (32:6-15, 41-44).

Beloved, we can settle and even agree to the desolate places but God says there is hope. He must give us new eyes to see something we couldn't see when looking at the ash heap in our lives. Remember God turns our ashes into something beautiful (Isaiah 61:3). When our eyes sting from weeping and we feel the ground give way under our feet and we lose our footing. God says to His people look what I will do to bring about the greatest glory to my Name (Jeremiah 33:8-9).

God never takes pleasure in our pain and destruction. But it brings Him great delight when someone simply brings their broken life to Him. Let's guard against becoming hard and resisting His Spirit to resurrect the dead things, the waste places and the barren wombs of our souls. It is after all about Him - His name, for His glory and the wonders of His grace.