Jeremiah 33:14  “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.'”

By this point, I would imagine that even Jeremiah was tired of hearing wonderful promises from God, when all he saw in the natural was devastation. God had to remind him, and assure him that it was all just a matter of time. It’s very interesting that verse 16 here repeats what God had told Jeremiah previously, as recorded in 23:6, that Jerusalem would be called, “The Lord our Righteousness.” I’m reminded also of chapter 32, where in verse 17 Jeremiah says to God, “Nothing is too hard for You,” and then in verse 27, God comes back at him and says, “Is anything too hard for me?” We may hear God and have trouble believing Him, because of our limited perspective and our small faith. Jesus repeatedly chided His disciples for their small faith. Jesus said that faith as small as a mustard seed would accomplish great things. (Matthew 17:20, Luke 17:6) The thing is, a seed is small, but it has the potential for growth. We aren’t to be satisfied with whatever level of faith we have, but keep watering and tending it so it will grow. Another way to look at it is that faith is like a muscle. Given nutrition and exercise, it will get stronger and stronger. That image isn’t original with her, but I heard Erika Kirk use it in an interview just yesterday. We are to be good stewards of the faith we have been given, confident that if we will do so, that faith will be big and strong enough, whatever it looks like to us.

As I have commented before, I feel I have been given an extra level of faith, particularly compared to many people around me, but I must never be satisfied – and particularly not self-satisfied. I am to be exercising what I have been given and expect it to grow. Right now we have friends who are in a crisis. The wife has lung cancer, and has already outlived her doctors’ predictions of lifespan by a wide margin, but yesterday they were told that it would probably be a matter of days. Their faith is certainly being tested! However, knowing them, I’m sure they will be triumphant. My wife and I face a similar test, since she has Parkinson’s Disease, and things are slowly becoming more difficult for her. We are in no way to despair, but rest in the assurance that God’s grace is and will be sufficient for us. (2 Corinthians 12:9) In the meantime, God has incredible blessings prepared for us, and we are to anticipate them daily. Faith is a gift. We are to receive it, rejoice in it, and exercise it as God intends, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your incredible faithfulness. You are more than worthy of our total faith! May we operate in that without exception, so that we may fulfill all of Your purposes for us, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!