Jeremiah 42:7-22
Threatened with reprisals from the king of Babylon, Johanan and his companions turned to Jeremiah for guidance. Let us consider the Lord Jesus whose image we have already seen so often reflected in this prophet. He is always with us: may we never fail to bring our problems and fears to Him.
Ten days pass by. The prophet is not quick to reply, as he himself is waiting to have God’s mind revealed to him.
Why does the Lord often take so long to answer our prayers? He wants to test our trust in Him. Faith is always patient. Time alone will tell whether our prayer was a prayer of faith, or whether on the contrary, being tired of waiting, we have ended up looking for a solution to our problem ourselves.
The question asked was the following: Are we to go down into Egypt or stay in the land? From the mouth of Jeremiah the LORD makes known His gracious but decisive reply: "Stay in the land! You will be blessed there. The king of Babylon will look kindly and mercifully on you. It would be your ruin to go to Egypt."
Fellow believers, whatever the road which opens out before us, let us beware of setting out along it before knowing the Lord’s will.