November 16, 2022

Jeremiah 31:15-20 (HCSB)
Lament Turned to Joy
15 This is what the Lord says: A voice was heard in Ramah, a lament with bitter weeping— Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they are no more. 16 This is what the Lord says: Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come— this is the Lord’s declaration— and your children will return from the enemy’s land. 17 There is hope for your future — this is the Lord’s declaration— and your children will return to their own territory. 18 I have heard Ephraim moaning, “You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined like an untrained calf. Restore me, and I will return, for you, Lord, are my God. 19 After I returned, I repented; After I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.” 20 Isn’t Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Whenever I speak against him, I certainly still think about him. Therefore, My inner being yearns for him; I will truly have compassion on him. This is the Lord’s declaration.

Neil Andrews
It’s a huge accomplishment to get to where you can literally turn everything over to God. It requires accepting that He is the Creator and owner of EVERYTHING – it’s all His in the first place. For some, it may be the loss of your financial resources –retirement hopes lost. For others, it may be the loss of a relative, a child or a spouse. It often takes the loss of “comforts” to be truly comfortable in anything. Verse 20 says, “My inner being yearns for him.” In other translations, we see the word “heart” instead. Yet, the Hebrew here is not just the heart, but the entire, internal organ area of the body…the inmost being. Like when a parent physically aches for their wayward child…in their inmost being, willing to give everything for them.  My understanding of the next Hebrew phrase, “I will truly have compassion on him” is not as much about the intensity or extent of the compassion, but the assuredness…. Essentially, “I most certainly, assuredly, without a doubt have compassion on him.”  YHWH continually has our best in mind, if only we could continually lay it all down at the cross and genuinely say to Him, "You can have it all, Lord."