Opening Doors, Calming Storms
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He was young when God spoke to him. Intimidated, unsure, insecure in himself and his abilities, and perhaps afraid of what this might mean…
In my morning readings, I’ve passed through Isaiah and have now begun journeying through Jeremiah’s words. It’s a wonderful “walk” to slowly read through the Word, book by book, chapter by chapter, page by page, and line by line. For even though we might have read it before or heard it preached about… when we intentionally let it unfold in front of us, not just seeking out a specific verse. That’s fine sometimes. But what I’m referring to is when we pick up His Word and just keep the steady pace of reading through it. We find that God masterfully orders the moments when His Word lands in our heart. In Matthew 7:7-8 it is written,
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Each morning when I sit with His Word — I’m asking. Perhaps I’m asking a certain question; perhaps I’m just vulnerably asking for whatever He knows I need. Oh but for certain, when I open my Bible, I’m asking for more of Him and I’m choosing less of what the world is too eager to say. And in the asking, I’m seeking whatever it is He knows I most need. It’s a surrendered kind of ask. To be so honest before the Savior King — to humbly admit, “I know I need more than what I can bring, so please give me what you know is needed for today.” And then finally in the asking and the seeking, to knock firmly on the door of the Throne room, knowing it will be opened, for He is a welcoming Father. I can knock feebly or with strength — He opens always to the one who is truly seeking…asking…wanting more of HIM and less of what is behind us. Let yourself visualize it for a moment. When we walk up to a door and knock, we are asking for entrance. As we knock, we usually face the door. And in that posture, behind our shoulders is what we have turned from, for our back is turned from something as we knock on the door in front of us. I love this imagery; it is simple and meaningful.
When we knock on a door, requesting to enter — we are simultaneously putting our back to whatever is behind us.
For me, it’s an accurate picture of — “Open up to me Lord, I need to be with You so much more than I need to be with anything else. What is behind me will only pull me backwards. I want You. I want you to be before me; lead me into Your green pastures beside still waters.” It’s a visual representation of what happens every time I open His Word and choose to let Him guide me through His pages.
We go slow.
He knows I need to go slow with Him.
He knows the world will soon begin its whirl around me.
He holds me in a sort of green pastures-still waters place, and He shows me how to hear His guidance and resist the whirl.
Beginning my slow walk through Jeremiah, I’m immediately sad for the prophet who obeyed God fully and yet was never truly heard by the people around him. Jeremiah’s story is one of great surrender and intense rejection. His daily obedience was filled with persecution and dismissal. Yet… he never stopped honoring God— even though the country around him turned from God and chose their own way.
Do you ever find yourself in places where you know you are “carrying the Light”, you know you are obeying the Father… and yet those in front of you reject, dismiss, confuse, or deny it? If you are, then Jeremiah’s words are like ointment on those wounds; for it hurts when we see what is True being denied. Jeremiah knew the feel of that anguish. And yet He held fast to what God had said to him. He did not let the confusing words of the world distract him from the clear words spoken to him by God. God said to Jeremiah,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
Before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5
He was young when God spoke these words to him. Intimidated, unsure, insecure in himself and his abilities, and perhaps afraid of what this might mean.
I love when scripture reveals that God reminded His own to not be afraid. Let’s not be pious and critical, of ourselves or others, when they have moments of facing their own weakness to stand against that giant called fear. God knows we feel it —— and so HE kindly and repeatedly reminds us —— “Do not fear for I am with you…”
God does it here in Jeremiah, in the very first chapter. Jeremiah 1:7 reads,
The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.
Bold added by me
And I’m reminded, how could Jeremiah ever have heard these words so clearly if he had not been, at a young age, living a life of asking, seeking, and knocking.
It’s wonderfully powerful!
To ask means we realize there is something we do not know. For a question always implies a reality of not fully knowing.
To seek means we understand there is something of value we do not have. To look for something implies we realize our need for it and our lack without it.
To knock means we have come to the place where we believe we can find what we need. To wait at the doorway implies we are humble and hopeful a good and right way will open for us.
Jeremiah was young, most believe he was around 17 years old when God spoke those words in verse 5 to him. Let yourself sit with that reality, “sit” beside Jeremiah, just for a moment. Where were you at 17? What would you have done or thought if Yahweh had spoken so clearly to you when you were less than 2 decades old? To be clear, Jeremiah could have refused. He was not a privileged young man from a wealthy family. History reveals he was considered poor in his day. He could have run, refused, hid, ignored. We do not know what would have come if he had chosen deafness towards God’s voice. Jonah’s story gives us a hint at the possible outcomes if Jeremiah had turned away from God.
Oh but Jeremiah did not refuse.
God knew what was ahead for this young man. God knew Jeremiah would feel inadequate and he would be afraid. And so GOD gave him what he needed to walk through the doorway that had just opened up to him.
The study notes in my Bible, regarding Jeremiah 1:8 read, “God promised to ‘rescue’ Jeremiah from trouble, not to keep trouble from coming. God did not insulate him from imprisonment, deportation, or insults. God does not keep us from encountering life’s storms, but he will see us through them. In fact, God walks through these storms with us and rescues us.”
Storms come in this world, physical-emotional-spiritual-relational-financial-personal-political-worldly — storms. Being HIS child does not make us immune to storms — but it does mean we are not alone when they blow in.
Hence… my slow walk through the Holy Pages, where I ask….for I do not know. I seek…for I know I need. And I knock…for I have found the place where green pastures beside still waters can surround me — no matter the size of the storm on the horizon.
It’s a slow journey. There’s no need to rush. The One who answers, gives. He is the same One who calms the raging storm, parts the waters, defeats giants, and formed you in His hands.
