Stuck
Hear and give ear: do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken. Give glory to the LORD your God before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death and makes it dense darkness. But if you will not hear it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive. Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Humble yourselves; sit down, for your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory.” – Jeremiah 13:15-18.
A man in Australia, Robin Toom, was playing hide and seek with his kids when he became stuck. He was trying to hide in their washing machine when his foot became wedged in such a way as to keep him from escaping. He was inside the machine with his knees up against his chest for an hour before being rescued by the fire squad. Dave Dillon a member of the fire squad reached into the washing machine and freed Robin’s foot. Not surprisingly, Robin said he was going to change his family’s rules for playing hide and seek. Robin shared about his ordeal, “I just hopped in there and couldn’t even get the lid down and the kids came in and said, ‘Ha, ha! We found you.”’
What would have happened to Robin if he had refused to call for help? What if he had been determined by whatever means to free himself without any outside help? Robin and his family had to admit that they had messed up and needed help from someone outside of the family. It would have been a ridiculous thing not to ask for help. It would have been crazy not to do what they knew to do to escape from this ordeal.
In Jeremiah 13:15 God is warning the people of Judah through His prophet not to stay stuck in their ways. God, as He had done for many years, was still pleading with the people to turn to Him before it was too late. The prophet Jeremiah was warning the people to turn to God before God turned out the lights. He was warning them to ask for help from the One who could help them before it was too late.
We know the people and the king along with his mother refused to listen. In 597 B.C. King Jehoiachin along with his mother and ten thousand of the most prominent of the people were taken captive by the Babylonians. When was the last moment that they could have changed their ways? When was the last moment that their cries for help would have been heard by God? When did they cross the line? When did they go too far?
Is God not still warning us today to turn back from our sin? Is He not still pleading with us through the prophet Jeremiah to stop, to humble ourselves and ask for help from the One who can help us? If we were stuck in a washing machine, would we not call for help? Of course, we would! Before it is too late call out to God in the Name of Jesus and ask Him to help you change your life. “Hear and give ear: do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken. Give glory to the LORD your God before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death and makes it dense darkness.”
(Are you stuck in sin? Ask for help!)