The gift of rescue.

Have you ever read the book of Jeremiah? I did during the two years I spent doing a one year walk through the Bible, but recently I noticed a word I missed the first time.

In chapter 1:7-8, God is calling Jeremiah and says this to him:

But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.

The word that stuck out to me was "rescue."

I've always read that verse like this:

"Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will help you."

I've always thought that a sign that you are doing God's work, that you have listened to His voice and made the right the decision is that things are peaceful and easy. God is there after all, shouldn’t that verse say, "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will comfort you?"

But it doesn't that, it says "rescue." It reads like God is saying, "Look, you need to go do what I am asking you and it won’t be easy. I'm not calling you to safety and comfort, I'm asking you to go into a situation that's going to be dangerous and difficult. Where I am calling you will be so horrible that it will require rescue, but I will provide it. That's what I am going to give you, rescue. But in order to give you the gift of rescue, I need you to go somewhere that requires it and I'm going to be upfront, that won’t be fun. Because if it was, rescue wouldn’t be necessary and that's the gift I want to give you. So …."

I don't know where you are or what God's doing in your life right now but I do know this, if you want to receive the gift of rescue, which I think is one of God's favorite gifts to give us, you have to go somewhere and do something that requires it.

(If you read this post and think, "but I don't know what my call is!" read something I wrote called "Trying to find a cause." I promise you already have one and it's the most important one you can have.)

Just come.

Somewhere along the way, I stepped away from the original intent of 97secondswithGod which was to express short, honest bursts of faith. And although I can't do the walk through the Bible chapter by chapter, day by day format right now, that doesn't mean I can't share what God is laying on my heart, as He lays it on there.

I don't know the frequency of what I'll write or what it will look like. I think it's going to be random and messy. But I want to share with you and want you to know I appreciate how many of you have expressed your appreciation for this site.

Below is what I wrote in my journal yesterday after reading Matthew 11: 28-30 and how I imagine God speaking that truth into my heart:

28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I am not asking you to complete yourself and then come to me. I am asking you to come to me. Broken and burdened, infested with the most hideous lies about me and my nature. Covered in perpetual sin that you just can’t seem to shake. Because I don’t see that. I see Christ. I see the blood of my son all over you.

I know you think you need to work through your doubt before you come to me. But that’s not true. I can’t wait that long for you to come. And how ridiculous is that lie? That you have to figure me out, know me and trust in me without fail before you can come to me and get to know me. I do have gifts for you. Big crazy gifts, but the biggest of all is my presence.

That’s what I am inviting you into. My presence. That’s a gift I am inviting you into. My presence. That’s a gift I am going to give you every second for every hour of every day for the rest of eternity. Come to me. Come be in my presence. It’s so crazy to think you have to perfectly accept that gift before you can stand in that gift. I’m just saying, “Come stand in it. Bask in it.”

Come stand in it filthy and let me cleanse you.

Come stand in it broken and let me heal you.

Come stand in it drunk on doubt and fear and let me renew a spirit of confidence and trust in you.

Just come stand in it.

Come stand in it covered with lies and misconceptions about who I am and who you are and let me reveal the truth.

Come stand in it worried and stressed and trembling and let me cover you with a peace that transcends all understanding.

Come, just come.

Come stand in it with a past you can’t fix and a future you can’t look at without grimacing and I will comfort you in this very moment.

Come.

What happened to 97 seconds?

I love this project. I feel incredibly blessed that people read this site and ask why did it stop. Right now though, in order to be faithful to some other projects God has brought into my path I need to take a sabbatical from 97secondswithgod.com.

Thanks for reading and sharing in this site and the other sites I write. I hope to return when the time is right.

Jon