Have you ever had a hard time remembering things? Have you said, “But, Lord, I can’t possibly remember all those things. What happens if I get it wrong?” Yet God Himself enables us to fulfill all of His demands. If you, like Jeremiah and Baruch, simply are obedient to whatever God is asking of you, you will find you have the capacity to do it.
The Bible simply records the men's obedience. “So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the Lord had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll” (Jer. 36:4). Together they accomplished this incredible task. What seemingly impossible thing has God called you to do? Do you know that God himself by his enabling Spirit will do it? “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).
Facing a big writing project that asked for daily Bible study notes for a year, I felt overwhelmed and quite inadequate. I sat miserably in my study, berating myself for taking on the assignment. It required remembering many thing from the past. Bible notes were lost, outlines of sermons long gone, and yet these were the very things I needed to do the job. “I can’t remember enough,” I complained to the Lord. "I should have been better organized and kept better files. I'm old, and it's hard to remember all those verses and lessons of the past."
You are as old as you should be, He reminded me. You certainly should have kept better notes, but you didn't.
“So what shall I do now? I can't remember!” I whined .
I can remember, He replied. Ask me! I called you to this task, now rely on me to do the work in you and through you. And God enabled me to remember. I finished the project and, incidentally, with material left over!
As the two men took the opportunity to work on the scrolls, Nebuchadnezzar was marching toward their city. Yet Jeremiah and Baruch never gave up. They didn't throw their hands up and say, “What's the use? It’s all over,” or, “Well, these obdurate people have had their chances to hear Jeremiah’s preaching. Why should we believe they would read his book?” They had faith enough to try one more thing, take one more risk, and finish the work they were doing. They had faith enough to believe that it is never over till it's over.
In Christ,
Jill Briscoe
Many of us find our desks are cluttered, we are forever rushing here and there, and our calendars are full. We may justify this by saying the more we’re involved in, the more we’re doing to honor Him! Yet God calls us for specific tasks—not every task. By being obedient to His will in keeping what you’re called to, letting go of that which isn’t in His plan, and delegating other things, you can find a less cluttered, but far richer spiritual life.
May these devotions on God's will, help us turn to God's Word to find out more about His general will for all people and see how we can apply it to our own lives.