Grace after disaster

 Grace after disaster

 

 

“Thus says the LORD, "The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness-- Israel, when it went to find its rest” (Jeremiah 31:2).

 

 

God's thoughts toward us are peace (Jer. 29:11).  God's thoughts toward us are the future and hope (v. 11).  But our thoughts are different from God's thoughts (Isa. 55:8).  We have evil thoughts in our hearts (Mt. 9:4).  What comes out of our heart is an evil thought, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness (Mk. 7:21-22).  So our thoughts are sin (Prov. 24: 9).  God sees that every intent of the thoughts of our hearts is only evil continually (Gen. 6:5) and disciplines us only with justice (Jer. 30:11).  God disciplines us and bring disaster on us so that we may realize our sins and repent of our sins.  Even through disaster, God reforms our ways and our actions and make us to obey the Lord our God (26:13).  Then God gives us grace (31:2).  What is that grace?

 

First, the grace that God gives us after disaster is salvation.

 

Look at Jeremiah 31:11 – “For the LORD will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.”  Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said to the people of Judah: “Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations.  Make your praises heard, and say, 'O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel” (v. 7).  The people of Judah, who were discipline by God and thus were taken captive in Babylon, asked God to save them.  This is because God of salvation wanted to save the people of Judah from the hand of Babylon after the disaster of being captive in Babylon.  Our God wants to save such sinners like us who aren’t worthy of salvation.  God wants to save us from our sins, the cause of all our suffering before He delivers us from all suffering.  And God saves us from our sins and from all our sufferings. This is the grace God gives us after disaster.

 

Second, the grace that God gives us after disaster is to bring us back.

 

Look at Jeremiah 31:8 – “See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return.”  Through the prophet Jeremiah, God promised to the people of Judah that He would bring them from Babylon in the north, gathering them from the ends of the earth in a great multitude, and bringing them back to this place, Jerusalem.  Then the people of Judah would come with weeping and return to Jerusalem (v.9).  When they come back, they would be led by God (v. 9).  As before, since God had loved the people of Judah with an everlasting love, He would bring them back to Jerusalem with lovingkindness (v. 3).  God promised that He would bring the people of Judah who repented their sins and return to God to Jerusalem.  When seventy years were completed for Babylon, God told them that He would come to them and fulfill His gracious promise to bring them back to Jerusalem (29:10).  And God promised them He would give rest to Israel (31:2).  Our God is the God who waits for us to return to Him (Lk. 15:11ff.).  And our God is the God who makes us to return to the house of God.  It is the grace that God gives us after disaster to bring us back again.

 

Third, the grace that God gives us after disaster is to make us to walk on the straight path and keep us safe.

 

Look at Jeremiah 31:9-10: “With weeping they will come, And by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, On a straight path in which they will not stumble; For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn.  Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, And declare in the coastlands afar off, And say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’”  All the people of Judah were like sheep that had gone astray (Isa. 53:6).  They walked on a crooked path.  Then they met with disaster and were captured by Babylon.  But God promised to deliver them out of the hand of Babylon, and to bring them back to Jerusalem (Jer. 31:8).  And God promised to heal their way and that they would go on the straight path (v. 9).  God promised them that He would bring them back with weeping and would be led by God (v. 9).  Also, He promised them to keep them as a shepherd kept his flock (v. 10).  Our Lord, our Shepherd, is the God who guides us.  Actually, He is leading us into the true Jerusalem that is Heaven.  And the Lord keeps us and lets us walk on the straight path.  This is the grace of God that God gives us after disaster.

 

Fourth, the grace that God gives us after disaster is to build us again.

 

Look at Jeremiah 31:4 – “Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! Again you will take up your tambourines, And go forth to the dances of the merrymakers.”  God promised the people of Judah through the prophet Jeremiah that they would be saved from Babylon and brought back to Jerusalem, and that they would be built again.  God said them that they would return to Jerusalem, so that they could plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria and would live in peace (v. 5, Park Yun-sun).  And God promised them that He would reunite the north Israel and the south Judah and promised them to go up to the temple of Jerusalem together to worship the true God (v. 6, Park Yun-sun).  In the end, God promised the people of Judah that He would build them up again economically, politically, and spiritually.  Our God is the God who builds us up again.  When God builds us up again then we will be rebuilt (v. 4).  The Lord God has promised to build His church up and He will surely build us up again (Mt. 16:18).  This is the grace that God gives us after disaster.

 

Fifth and last, the grace that God gives us after disaster is to make us greatly rejoice.

 

Look at Jeremiah 31:12 – “They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD-- the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more.”  Our God is the God who turns our mourning into gladness (v.13).  Our God is the God who gives us comfort and joy instead of sorrow (v.13).  He makes us to dance and be glad (v. 13).  He fills us with the joy of forgiveness, the joy of salvation, and the joy of restoration.  Therefore, God makes our soul like a well water garden (v. 12).  There will be no more sorrow (v. 12).  This is the grace that God gives us after disaster.  

 

God gives us grace after disaster. The grace that God gives us is saving us, bringing us back, making us to walk the straight path and protecting us.  And God builds us up again and makes us rejoice greatly.  As a result, God satisfies us (Jer. 31:14).  May this grace be with you after disaster.