Jeremiah 29:12-14 The Message
12 “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.
13-14 “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.
“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.
“I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”—God’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Jeremiah 29:13 New American Standard Bible 1995
13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
The context for this verse is Jeremiah’s letter to the exiled Jews in Babylon.
This is a promise of restoration after the completion of the time allotted for their discipline.
We should read this as pertaining not only to them but to all God’s Church, even today – this was a specific promise to those Jews in exile, but it captures a basic principle of relating to our God that holds true in every generation of believers.
Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).
God has made himself completely and totally available to those who want him.
He calls to us, but he does not force us to follow.
His mysterious and prevenient grace notwithstanding, it is a crucial element of our relationship and fellowship with him that we’ll actually choose to seek him, come to him and abide with and in him.
Romans 1:20 suggests that everyone, even the unregenerate actually knows this to be true, though they have lied to themselves:
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
For the Christian, it is necessary to wake up to this fact, stop running away, and begin hardcore running toward God, who has made himself apprehend able for the seeker.
Breaking Down the Key Parts of Jeremiah 29:13
#1 “You will seek me,”
Jeremiah prophesied that the Jews, currently then in exile for their failure to follow God, would indeed turn to him at the right time and seek his face.
But more importantly to us, he has reserved his elect Church as those who will at the right time wake up to the truth and at the right time they will seek him.
#2 “and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
The key to finding what we seek when we seek God is to put all our heart into it.
This we will do only when we place our very highest value in our God and in a relationship with him above and beyond echelons more than anything else.
Finding him is like finding a treasure in a field that is worth selling everything we have in order to buy it.
In Luke 18:29-30, it says, “29 ‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus said to them, ‘no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.’”
We must leave all behind in respect to what or who has the highest place in our hearts if we would truly find God.
What If You Can’t Find God or Can’t Hear His Voice?
Some of us have had that sour experience of feeling that God is far away and unreachable.
Even some of the psalmists wrote about times when God did not seem to be anywhere near.
In Psalm 22, David cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus himself repeated those words as he hung dying on the cross (Mark 15:34).
So what do you do when you can’t find God?
So what do you do when you can’t hear God’s voice?
Do what the psalmist did, and cry out to God.
Let him know how much you need him.
And read and reread today’s Bible passage, which assures us that when we seek God with all our hearts, we will find him.
God wants to be a part of our everyday lives, just as he showed us when his Son, our Savior was born.
Four Questions to Ask When Listening for God’s Voice
Jeremiah 29:12-13 New American Standard Bible 1995
12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
One of the joys we experience in childhood, although we don’t see as a gift at the time, is that decisions are made for us.
We love independence, but most of us can at least appreciate the idea of a person telling us which way to turn when the lines get blurry and a world that once seemed very black and white subtly takes on a surprising shade of grey.
One of the most common questions we have all heard asked is, “I wish I knew what God wanted me to do…how do I listen for Him or know I hear from Him?”
I would like to suggest four questions we should consider when seeking the voice of God:
1. Am I willing to hear what He might say?
Do you believe His voice will flow out of His great love for you, even if it’s not the message you wanted to hear?
If we aren’t willing to receive what He says, we really cannot proceed.
If that scares you, and I fervently pray it does, remember that a God who loves us enough to sacrifice His own Son, who promises to never leave us, and who is gentle enough to wipe away our tears ( Revelation 21:4). His will is vastly good.
Are you willing to hear more?
2. What does scripture say?
The Bible is God-breathed, so it is here where we begin.
We might not be able to flip to the concordance and search “how to know if I should stay in this dating relationship…” or “how to respond when my co-worker says something cruel…”, however, if we develop a disciplined habit of reading, studying, praying, abiding in the Word of God, we will know His heart.
And when we get serious enough to know his Heart, we will recognize His voice.
In the hardcore quest for God’s voice, let the first most critical stop be scripture.
The more familiar we are with the heart of God, the more familiar we will be with His voice.
3. What do the people who love you say?
Before we were married, during one particular coffee date I had with her, we discussed about unhealthy dating relationships.
I asked her what her family, close friends, and spiritual mentors had to say about “unhealthy dating relationships.”
Would the people closest to her, who loved her and wanted the best for her, all warn her that staying in any relationship was dangerous and if they advised her to end it – would she, or I be honest enough with ourselves to be able to discuss.
Would we talk about the reasons behind their concerns for any length of time, when she looked at me through teary eyes and said, “I try to hear them, know what they want me to do…now, I just wish I knew what God wanted me to do.”
The people who love you…the people you trust and respect…what do they say?
Have you asked them?
Obviously, everyone should not be within your circle for wise counsel.
Ask people who have made decisions that you respect, and who love you enough to want what is best for you.
Allow their voices to enter the conversation and examine how their input is compatible with scripture and what you know to be true about the heart of God.
The Lord frequently uses the voices of others to echo what He is speaking to our hearts.
4. What does the “still, small voice” say?
You know that whisper?
That sense of what God is calling us to?
In his book, Hearing God, Dallas Willard refers to this as the “still, small voice”.
For a deeper discussion about what it means to have a “conversational relationship” with God, as Willard describes it, jump into this thought-0provoking piece of writing.
I cannot do justice to the understanding he brings to the subject.
I will say this though – it’s hard to imagine hearing the “still, small voice” of God if we don’t make listening a priority.
Our lives produce a shocking amount of noise.
Our days seem to fill themselves with appointments and activities before we even have a chance to say otherwise.
Repeatedly in scripture, Jesus left the noise.
He got up earlier than everyone else, went away from the chaos, and was alone with His Father.
He prayed and they talked, a habit which scripture tells us He did often.
Are you positioning yourself to hear the still, small voice of a great God who wants so badly to talk with you?
These are our beacons.
If we are in the business of seeking direction, these questions may or may not lead us to a specific answer, but hopefully they will begin the process, to help us listen more carefully discern God’s small voice in the midst of so many others.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 19 New American Standard Bible 1995
The Works and the Word of God.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
19 The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
4 Their [a]line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
6 Its rising is from [b]one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the [c]other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is [d]perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be [e]blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
My Savior Jesus, Giver of peace, I find myself so easily distracted by the voices of the world when I’m trying to focus and hear your Holy Spirit. Help me to quiet my mind in the middle of my busy life. Help me to just pause and to make space to listen to the most important voice of all. Empower me to be a good listener to the gentle whispers of your Spirit. Help me better follow the example of Jesus, who would slip away in the evening or the early morning to be alone with you. Teach me to abide in you. Amen.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 