As I came to the Word of God in my quiet time, I was feeling kind of down about a particular situation. Then, the Lord taught me something powerful in my reading from the Daily Walk Bible today. Maybe you noticed it also in your reading.

King Nebuchadnezzar was looking across the vast city of Babylon and came to the conclusion that he had built it by his own power as an expression of his royal splendor (Daniel 4:30). Well, as a result, he lost his power, his rule, and was driven from human society. A voice came from heaven saying, “Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone He chooses” (Daniel 4:32). Then, the text goes on to say that “after this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the One who lives forever…Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble those who are proud” (Daniel 4:37). His kingdom was returned to him and he was reestablished as king.

Only eight verses of reading, but they reveal a powerful truth for us. When the king looked out into the world, he was led astray—when he looked up to heaven, he was restored, renewed, and reestablished. I wonder if you need renewal today? I believe that every day we need personal spiritual revival. And where can we find it? By looking up to heaven. When you look out in the world and that is all you see, you can come to wrong conclusions and miss the reality in a circumstance—when you look up to heaven, you see what is true and real—that God is on the throne, He is sovereign, He has a plan for your life, and He is in control. And so, let us together this day, look up to heaven—open the Word of God, talk with Him, and praise and worship Him with the words of Nebuchadnezzar: “His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He has the power to do as he pleases among the angels of heaven and with those who live on earth. No one can stop him or challenge him…” (Daniel 4:34-35).

I read something in Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost For His Highest that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind. His comments were in response to the words of Jesus to His disciples: “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26). OC says, “What a pang must have shot through the disciples–Missed it again! And what a pang will go through us when we suddenly realize that we might have produced downright joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, no matter what was ahead.” He goes on to explain that our sanctification will result in making us a deep joy to our Lord. I wrote in my journal, “I love this thought—giving the Lord joy by trusting Him in the darkness.”

Yesterday we read Lamentations in The Daily Walk Bible. Jeremiah must have brought great joy to the heart of the Lord for he was able to have hope in the midst of his own brokenness and wounded heart at the destruction of Jerusalem. Here is his shout of triumph, “The though of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” (Lamentations 3:21-25 NLT). Oh may I bring joy to the Lord with a shout of faith, hope, and triumph like Jeremiah even in the adversities, challenges, and trials of life. “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9 ESV).

Our reading in Jeremiah 37-39 is a place of sadness where we see that the people of Israel were reaping the result of unfaithfulness to God. Oh what a difference there is between those who are faithful to God and those who are not. We do see it in our reading for today, Jeremiah 37-39 in the Daily Walk Bible. There were two who listened and trusted in God and a whole nation and a king who did not. The result for those who listened and trusted God was deliverance, relief, and protection in and through the trial. For those who were unfaithful there was desolation, devastation and destruction at the hands of the Babylonians.

Jeremiah and Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian trusted in the Lord and they discovered that God’s words are true: “Blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8). Mark it well, dear friend: it pays to trust in the Lord. These two men are proof of it. Even though there was turbulence and adversity on every side, Jeremiah and Ebed-Melech were like two trees planted along the riverbank with roots in God that held them strong in the storm. This is a great secret in life. You can trust God in the trial. Even though you may not see His Presence, He sees you and knows you by name. And He will hold you strong no matter what you are facing in life. Look at Jeremiah. He was thrown into the cistern and sank into a thick layer of mud. How much worse could it get for Jeremiah? Relief from God came from an unexpected source. There was another man who trusted in the Lord - an Ethiopian palace official named Abed-Melech. God moved him to boldly go to the king and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern. God rewarded that Ethiopian for his trust in the Lord - He gave Ebed-Melech his life, rescued him and kept him safe (Jeremiah 39:18).

God also says this: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land” (Jeremiah 17:5-6). Zedekiah was one whose heart turned away from the LORD and we see the result. He lost his sight and his sons and was bound in chains and taken into captivity. Things could have gone better for him if he would have listened to the Word of the Lord. What was the Word of the Lord to him? “If you surrender to the Babylonian officers, you and your family will live, and the city will not be burned down. But if you refuse to surrender, you will not escape! This city will be handed over to the Babylonians, and they will burn it to the ground” (Jeremiah 38:17-18). Just think, Zedekiah’s choice of trust affected his entire nation. This is an important lesson for us. We must realize that our trust in the Lord never occurs in a vacuum. It affects others. The Ethiopian’s trust in the Lord saved the life of Jeremiah. Zedekiah’s refusal to trust in the Lord resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem.

And so, let us trust in the Lord today. What will that mean? I like to think of trust as Total Reliance Under Stress and Trial. Rely on the Lord. Act on what you know to be true about Him whether you feel it or not. Trust in what He says, not what you feel. Then, you will discover His words are true in Jeremiah 17:7-8. You will not be anxious in a year of drought not cease to bear fruit. What a promise that is for us today!

Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision spoke in my Youth for Christ Rally when I was a teenager. He made a statement I will never forget: “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God!” In those days, Bob Pierce shared a broken heart for children orphaned by the Korean War.

In the years since, I have never forgotten his comment because I believe it is at the heart of what God desires for each of us: “a heart that hurts where and when the heart of God hurts.”

Jeremiah was God’s prophet of the broken heart. He begged, pleaded, prayed and prophesied to God’s people, Israel. As you read through the book of Jeremiah, you will read the fifteen prayers that Jeremiah prayed for Israel. Many of them were prayed through Jeremiah’s tears. He felt the sadness and rejection for a nation that seemed oblivious to what God wanted them to know and do.

Jeremiah and Jesus were a lot alike. No old testament figure is so prophetic of Jesus as Jeremiah. Both suffered rejection by their own. Both were threatened with death by the priests of Jerusalem. Both were led as lambs to a slaughter. Both were men of sorrow and acquainted with grief, yet found consolation in prayer. Both were mystified over the ways of God.

Jeremiah sounded a little like Moses when he said “Ah, Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” (1:6) God responds to Jeremiah as he did with Moses by saying “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord.” (1:8)

In the midst of Israel’s struggle in captivity, God speaks through Jeremiah with words of a promise that many of us know and often quote today. “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (29:11)

You and I are a lot like Jeremiah’s audience. We hear God speak, we know his promises, yet we stumble along on our own through chaos and confusion when God says “I have your answer. Listen and believe!”

Jim Smoke