“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
— Jeremiah 33:3
We all go through our share of difficult times. Perhaps you’re in the midst of one even now, wondering if God knows and cares about your pain. But He does. He hears your cries and wants you to know He is there for you. When we endure afflictions, when our souls despair of hope or help, when the skies turn ominously black and the green valleys wither into wastelands, then the Word of the Lord shines through like a ray of hope: “Call to Me.”
The prophet Jeremiah knew despair and darkness. Jeremiah found himself in prison, confined in the courtyard of the guard, when the Word of the Lord came to him a second time. The first time God spoke to Jeremiah, he did not hear the Lord. But now in prison, Jeremiah’s hearing was greatly improved. So often we operate the same way. When things go well for us, we allow the things of the world to distract us. But when we suffer, God’s Word resounds like a thundering voice echoing off cold prison walls. Through our pain, God commands our attention in ways we never heed when things are going well for us.
Why was Jeremiah thrown into prison? In fact, why do so many of God’s servants end up in prison? From Jeremiah to Paul to John Bunyan to saints of our own time, many godly people find themselves unjustly imprisoned. Sometimes those closest to God seem to suffer more than others. Why? Because in the long run, God has our eternal good in mind. He tests us and refines us. He molds us until we become what He wants us to be, even if it takes imprisonment to do it.
As Jeremiah despaired in prison, facing a tremendous, life-refining difficulty, God came to him in great grace and said, “Call to me and I will answer you.” He says the same to us. Not only will He answer our requests, but He will do great and mighty things beyond what we ask or imagine. When we can do nothing else, we can “call to God.”
Do you feel alone, emotionally imprisoned by the trials you face? Then call to God today, and listen for His voice. He will speak to you as you trust in His goodness, love, and provision.
“God washes the eyes by tears until they can behold the
invisible land where tears shall come no more.”
Henry Ward Beecher
