Jeremiah 4:3-4
This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Break up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
circumcise your hearts,
you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.
An angry sky loomed overhead.
As we drove, the sky turned gray and the clouds rolled. Tim commented
that the sky looked angry. Indeed, it did. No sun peeked through, only gray.
The sky darkened the further we drove, and within the hour the clouds burst with
torrential rain.
I've been reading the book of Jeremiah, which is not warm and
fuzzy. It's full of anguish—God's anguish over Jerusalem and the
Israelites. They had turned their back on God and gave their attention to the
idols they created. As I was reading, I understood and recognized God's deep feelings
for these people.
I write a lot about how much God loves us, and He does, more
than we can comprehend. Along with the emotion of love, God feels all the other
ones, like anger, frustration, and hurt. He made us in His image, with all the
feels, so of course He experiences the same emotions.
God and the Israelites had journeyed together for years.
He'd saved them so many times, yet they turned on Him and chose to sin rather
than follow God. His righteous wrath was well founded and His heart broke over
these people who betrayed Him. Sounds kind of familiar. God sees similar
behavior out of people today that He saw from the Israelites, yet even in His
anger and hurt, He longs for us to turn to Him and seek forgiveness.
Later in the chapters, He offers to forgive the Israelites
if they will repent. He doesn't give up on them regardless of how they made Him
feel. God's heart breaks over people, yet He loves fiercely.
Seek God. Turn to Him and give Him your heart.