Great and Mighty Things

Call unto Me, and I will answer thee,
and shew thee great and mighty things,
which thou knowest not.
Jeremiah 33:3

This verse from Jeremiah has been a precious one for me through the years. I have paid very close attention to the first three words of the verse and then secondarily to the second phrase. Both phrases are precious...I can call on God and He will answer. In my impatience, I've often felt God was a little slow in answering, but have found His answers have come in His own timing that is for my good. What I've been noticing more lately though is the next part of the verse. It's the part of the verse that I'm not sure anyone can wrap themselves around. He wants to show us “great and mighty things.” I can't even think of what all those things entail. I do see, though, that they are things that I can't even know anything about. He can do any thing at any time to show forth His might and power, even to the extent of working through the affairs of sinful men.

It was the Christmas of my fifth grade year. I had been a Christian only a few weeks so there was much I was learning as I was getting more and more acquainted with Jesus. November and December were tough months for our family. My dad had been in the hospital in St. Louis for a couple of weeks and unable to work when he got home. Even without being told, I knew times were tough. Two days prior to Thanksgiving, someone knocked on our front door and ran away. When my Mother went to the porch, there were two boxes full of groceries that included a turkey. I knew even at that age that we had only a few items in our refrigerator. It was only the second time in my life that I saw my Mother shed tears. The same thing happened at Christmas. We had a couple of small items beneath our “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree, but by Christmas Eve, gifts came from who-knows-where that were in abundance to a young girl. To this day, when I think of “great and mighty things”, I think back to those two holidays. I know adults knew what was going on, but to a child, it was miraculous.

In Scripture, when all seemed lost, Pharaoh still decided to let God's people return to their homeland. Other evil kings did things that benefited God's people or prophets, used by God whether they realized that fact or not. God can work in and through any impossible situation. Who could have imagined how the heart of a man by the name of Saul of Tarsus could be changed and he become the apostle Paul. I have seen through the years, how God can bend down into the affairs of man and functions in such wonderful ways. He has promised to never leave or forsake us no matter our problems or concerns.

I'm concerned about us today in the middle of all of the political mess we find ourselves in. I almost hate opening up my computer with all the political junk I see. I've never seen anything like it. All of the lying and conniving is of Satan and Satan is having a heyday even with the minds of Christians. I've decided today to just keep it all erased from my computer. I don't need to see all the junk. Politically, I already know what I am to do as an individual citizen. We Christians are to have the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5) and I am trusting my well being and well being of our country in God's very capable hands. My time will be much better spent in God's Word as well as making all a matter of prayer. One of our problems is that we haven't been praying enough.

Whether it be politics, social ills of our country, or economic concerns, God waits to show us great and mighty things. He waits for us to call on Him not just with the huge concerns we face as a country, but His concerns stretch to you and me with our own personal concerns and problems. Many times, it seems God is deaf to our pleas, but I don't believe He ever is. I believe He answers our every prayer. It may not be just exactly when or how we think this should come about, but God will always know what He's doing.

In these days of such confusion in our country, God cares, loves us and awaits our desire for Him to show us great and mighty things. We must put our hope in God and in God alone.

(H-aving....O-nly....P-ositive....E-xpectations) This is to be hope in the truest sense as we Christians are to view it. Our Heavenly Father is alive and well. He hasn't dozed off while we find ourselves in the middle of so much stuff. He is on His throne and is working His will that is totally in our best interest. It may not seem like that is true for the present but He hasn't failed us yet.

In these days, we have been called to prayer from so many godly leaders. Perhaps our fault at this time is that we haven't been praying consistently for our country. Whether we have failed in this area or not, we must be praying now. Our country is in desperate need of our prayers. Whether our praying seems futile or not, we are told in Scripture to be people of prayer. How can we expect to see great and mighty things, if we refuse to CALL ON HIM?

Father, we call on You today knowing You have Your hand of control on our every circumstance. We pray for our country and its leaders. Bring our country back to Yourself that we will be Your people with whom You are pleased. In Jesus precious name...Amen