Get close to God and stay there

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Take care of yourself”

Our Bible verse for today: “Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again!” Lamentations 5:21 (NLT)

Our thought for today: “Get close to God and stay there”

The Old Testament book of Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah after the fall of Jerusalem. The city was in ruins, most of the people had been led off to Babylon as captives, and Jeremiah was left standing amidst the rubble. Lamentations is exactly that, it is a lament. It is Jeremiah remembering how good life was when Jerusalem was a safe, populated, and prosperous city. Now, he was mourning the loss of those days, the loss of that life.

Verse 5:21 was a desperate cry to the Lord, in prayer, to restore things to what they had been, and that was a reasonable request. Jeremiah knew that God was kind, gracious, and forgiving. Therefore, there was at least a chance that God would answer this prayer (He did answer it but it would take 70 years before restoration did happen.) The prophet Joel affirms that God will forgive and restore. In Joel 2:25 he wrote that God can “give you back what the swarming locust have eaten.” In both cases, with Jeremiah and with Joel, the reference was to the truth that God can and will relent in His discipline of us and help us to begin rebuilding our lives – if we will repent of our sins and return to Him. I often use these passages to encourage the prisoners I work with in the jails and prisons.

But this principle applies not just to trials we are going through because of some sin we have committed. It also applies across the spectrum of life issues. God can and will restores us. Maybe you have had a significant financial setback. With God’s help, you can stabilize your situation and recover from it. Perhaps you, like me, have suffered the death of your much-loved spouse and you are faced with having to go forward in life without him or her. God is not going to bring Linda back from heaven for me, but He will help me to go forward into a new season of life, building a new chapter in life that does not include having Linda here with me. It won’t be the same life, but it can still be a good life.

But in all those cases the key to restoration is the same – stay close to God. If you have sinned and drifted far from Him, return and repent. He will then begin to restore you. If your life has changed dramatically in some other way, such as a financial setback, the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, a sickness of your own, and you are now faced with having to enter into a new season in life, the lesson is the same – stay close to God. If you are already close to Him, draw even closer.

The best life you will ever have is the one that is lived right in the middle of God’s will. Regardless of any other circumstances, the best place for you to be is wrapped securely in the strong arms and warm embrace of your heavenly Father.

The way to take care of yourself in the storms of life is to get as close to God as you can and to stay there.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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