Skip to main content

Satisfy and Replenish

It’s right around the corner, 2022 that is.

Fear not, this is not a post to encourage New Year’s resolutions!  Instead, it’s something that I hope will encourage you as consider the craziness of the last two years and wonder what 2022 will be like.

I’m going to share a verse from the book of Jeremiah.  Aside from all the appropriate arguments for context and that it is hard to definitively say that it is a promise for today, nonetheless, if we consider the character of God throughout all Scripture, the verse still points us to what God does for His people that He loves so dearly!

Jeremiah 31:25 – “For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

As is my bent in my writing, I would first point us to some basic definitions of the words:

Satisfy:  to make happy, to gratify to the full.

Weary:  exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor or freshness; having one's patience, tolerance, or pleasure exhausted.

Languishing:  to be or become feeble, weak; to be or live in a state of depression or decreasing vitality; to become dispirited.

Replenish:  to fill or build up again.

You may or may not have felt weary these past two years.  You may or may not have felt that you been languishing.  But I know I have.  To be honest, I’ve even felt both deeply at times.

I also know that I can’t seem to be able to come up with the resources, in and of myself, to simply pull myself out of them.

But I do know that the “I” in the verse above refers to God.  And I do know that He can satisfy me and replenish me. And I definitely need both!

So, as we look to 2022 and feel the weariness and languishing of 2020 and 2021, let’s to look to the God who alone can satisfy and replenish us in 2022. 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Can't Get No Satisfaction

One of the songs that were popular in my youth was not particularly upbeat or helpful but it probably did express some of the angst of my generation.  It was not one that particularly resonated with me but as I recently read the book of Haggai, it did come to mind, well, at least some of the lyrics did.  It was the Rolling Stones song with the lyrics “I can’t get no satisfaction”.  Take a look at the chorus of that bleak song:   I can't get no satisfaction; I can't get no satisfaction; Gonna try and I try and I try and I try; I can't get no - I can't get no –   Now take a look at Haggai 1:6 – “ You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” It sure sounds like the people of Judah couldn’t get any satisfaction with the things of life that normally should have brought some type of s...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Horse Of Course

In Biblical times, horses represented military power and strength.  And if you had both horses and chariots, well, that was the ultimate of military powers and wars were often won with them. Yet in seeking to have what would normally be considered insurmountable military strength, there was one factor that was often overlooked.  The Psalmist made it clear what that factor was when he wrote:  “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”   (Ps 20:7) While Israel did at times trust in the name of the Lord, there were other times when they tried to trust in horses and chariots to win their battles.  This is what the Lord spoke to Israel through the prophet Isaiah:  “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,   who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots   and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord .”  ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hide Not...

Over the centuries, the words have brought great comfort and encouragement.   The words are often used as a benediction or a blessing:   The Lord bless you and keep you: The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.   (Num 6:24-26)   What in the world is a countenance?  By definition, it is a person's face or facial expression. So if the Lord’s face shines upon us and if He lifts up His countenance upon us, what does all that mean? It means that He is giving us His attention.  But even more so, His face shining upon us gives us t he picture of a beaming face like that of a parent for their beloved child.  And the reference to Him lifting up His countenance points to God extending divine favor and peace to us. Sometimes we can appreciate things more by seeing opposites.  The opposite of a lifted face is a face that has fallen, perhaps because of sham...
Post a Comment
Read more