June 24, 2002

BREAK TIME

Summer is officially here. The calendar says that summer started on Friday, June 21. But people tied into the Pasadena public schools know that summer really started one day earlier, on Thursday, the last day of school. It's about time! For the past several weeks, teachers have been counting the days left until the end of school. Students counted the hours. Parents like me looked forward to mornings without the stress of getting small children to school on time, and evenings without the burden of homework. (Other parents who have practically perfect children or are better organized do not have this problem.) We have been going hard for a long time, and we need a break.

The good part about being a student is that breaks are automatically built into the system. So even though the going may get rough (one seminary student told me during finals week that his legs were getting tired of climbing uphill), there is always an end in sight. One flip of the calendar page, and we're free.

Unfortunately, this does not translate to other areas of our lives. When we are feeling overwhelmed, when we are facing one obstacle too many, when circumstances are beyond our control, we can't look at the calendar to see when we will get a sorely needed break.

We may get to feeling like Baruch. This is his prayer, found in Jeremiah 45: "I am overwhelmed with trouble! Haven't I had enough pain already? And now the Lord has added more! I am weary of my own sighing and can find no rest." (New Living Translation)

Baruch had good reason to feel overwhelmed. He was Jeremiah's faithful friend and scribe, writing down the word of the Lord as Jeremiah dictated it to him. Since God's word was a judgment on the people of Judah for their sins, Baruch felt the full force of God's anger and understood all too well the severe consequences if the people did not confess and renew their commitment to their God. He had a front row seat as the people of Judah stubbornly refused to return to God. His pain only increased as, disliking the message, the people turned on the messengers. Baruch shared in Jeremiah's fate, being mistreated and threatened with death by his fellow countrymen. (See chapter 36 when Jeremiah was barred from the temple, and Baruch had to deliver God's message of judgment in Jeremiah's place.)

So it is no wonder that Baruch prays a prayer full of pain to God. This is God's answer: "I will destroy this nation that I built. I will uproot what I planted. Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don't do it! But don't be discouraged. I will bring great disaster upon all these people, but I will protect you wherever you go. I, the Lord, have spoken!" (NLT)

Although it may not seem so on a first reading, this answer is comforting indeed. Notice that God does not promise that things will get better. In fact, he promises the opposite. And Baruch is warned not to make things better himself, which would amount to striving against God.

When we are in pain, we wish that God would miraculously make it all right. It is a hard thing to hear from God that we may have to stay in that painful place, or that our circumstances might even deteriorate. But it is satisfying at the same time to have God acknowledge our place of pain. We don't have to sugarcoat our situation. We don't have to like it. If our reality stinks, it is a great relief not to have to pretend otherwise.

It is also very comforting to know that God does not remove himself from us in our place of pain. We see this in a couple of ways in this chapter. Leading up to this point, God has spoken over and over again to the people of Judah. Immediately following are several chapters of judgment against several nations surrounding Israel. It is all the more striking, then, that chapter 45 is a word of the Lord to one individual. In his big plan of bringing judgment by nations warring against nations, God has not forgotten Baruch, his faithful servant.

Furthermore, God is in control of what happens. He controls Judah's destiny, he controls King Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Judah and his subsequent conquest of a mightier power, Egypt. God also controls Baruch's personal welfare. So even though Baruch will get caught in Judah's downfall, he will be kept safe. God will protect him wherever he goes. Or, to put it another way, wherever Baruch goes, God goes with him.

When his country was overthrown, Baruch was carried to Egypt along with Jeremiah. He didn't get the break he felt he needed, but he got much more. He got God's personal interest in his welfare, and God's presence where he went.

When we are longing for a break from the difficulties of our lives, it is good to know that we have the same promise of God's good presence. A summer break is a good thing, but much better is God's year-round, permanent gift of himself.

–Pastor Connie Larson DeVaughn