Stand at the Crossroads and Look

Jeremiah 6:16 This is what the Lord says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls."


I sat down with the Lord this morning to have some intentional time with Him. To be honest, I'm not always consistent with the practice. I get busy, do things and I have had a lot of appointments. I have been exhausted. Too tired for God. Too tired for God?

Is that why my soul is not at rest? I still battle many things in my heart. My desire to have my original health restored. My desire to have my son accepted and loved just the way he is. My desire for things. My desire to have my old career back. My desire to have the energy to put into my children what I think they deserve and need...and last but not least, the ability to be what my husband deserves in a wife. I want to have energy. I want, want, want. I know enough by now that when I get to the place where my wants are greater than my feelings of rest and satisfaction I am in a desolate place. I am like Judah. I have let my mind turn to my "gods" that will bring me what I want. I know they will not satisfy, yet I turn to them anyway. So today, I turned again to the Lord.

Reading Jeremiah for comfort isn't working so well. It isn't warm and fuzzy. But it is revealing things about my weaknesses that I need to know. Luckily, I did find a place of refuge in my reading this morning, but it was a place of challenge and another chance.

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths. Our pastor once asked us to answer two questions of ourselves. 1. Who is Jesus to me? 2. Discover what Jesus did for me. After being a Christian most of my living days, you'd think this would be easy to answer. I could give you the easy Sunday school answers, but that is not the ancient path God called me to today.

1. Who is Jesus to me? He is hope. This world and what it offers on it's own is hopeless. I can want, want, want, but the wants will never end. Jesus, is the Hope and the end of my wants. He is what I want. I so easily get seduced by the wants that I forget Jesus is what I really want. I want quick fixes, and end to fatigue, doctors that have answers and I am not getting what I want. Jesus is the alpha and omega of my wants. He is the cure to my wants. He is the healer, the hope and the harvest.

2. What did Jesus do for me? He suffered so he knows suffering. He had a short career that God gave him and then changed. He walked through fatigue, temptation, people letting him down and he kept walking. He endured the most horrible pain on the cross, so that my wants wouldn't keep me from my Father. The Bible talks about embracing our sufferings. I am working on that. I am not good at it yet.

Today, I stand at the crossroads and ask God for the ancient paths. I ask for Jesus. I ask for forgiveness. I ask for hope. Then, I rest.