Imagine that someone we do not know very well tells us that they have good intentions towards us, but that we must not ask what they are, because only they can know them. To take these words seriously, we would need...
Imagine that someone we do not know very well tells us that they have good intentions towards us, but that we must not ask what they are, because only they can know them. To take these words seriously, we would need an enormous effort of trust: faith before information, before evidence... Very difficult, is it not? Now imagine that these words are spoken by someone close and dear to us. That is different! We have grounds for trust, because this person has already done so much good for us. Yet it still remains trust. So it is with God: the more we see His action in our life, the easier it is to trust Him. But the effort is still ours to make: to give up the idea that only we know what is good for us and consent to His intentions.
But not only to His intentions! God says that we can encounter Him Himself, not merely His actions, but we must desire this with all our heart. That means leaving no little corner of the heart where something is still squeaking, ‘Oh, I'm afraid! Oh, I don't want to!’ Is that really possible? Here is the sequence the Lord offers: you will call—pray—I will hear (that is, answer)—then you will seek—and find. Without first developing a relationship with Him, of course, nothing will come of it. But we can begin this journey right now.
29 Jeremiah's letter to the captives in Babylon, to be quiet there, Jer 29:1-7.
Not to believe false prophets; nor expect to return 'till after fifty years, Jer 29:8-14.
The destruction of those who remained in Judah for their disobedience, Jer 29:15-19.
The fearful end of two lying prophets, Jer 29:20-23.
Shemaiah's letter against Jeremiah, Jer 29:24-29.
Who reads his doom, Jer 29:30-32.
29:11 To give - This deliverance will not depend upon your merits, but upon my own mercy, and kind thoughts and purposes I have for the seed of Abraham my servant, and I am resolved in my own thoughts what to do, I intend not the blotting out of the name of Israel from the earth, but to give such an end to their trouble as themselves expect and desire.