Daily Devotional: February 21st

Jeremiah 30:7

Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Jacob's Trouble

Society is filled with offers for deliverance. If you have a toothache, a dentist can take care of it. If you have money problems, you can get help from a financial planner. If you have a headache, most stores carry a variety of medications designed to relieve your pain. But some troubles are so great that only God can bring deliverance.

It was this latter kind of deliverance that Jeremiah foresaw in the future for Israel. The Jewish people would go through many trials. In Jeremiah's day, the temple would be destroyed and the people would be taken to Babylon for a 70-year exile. Shortly after the time of Christ, Jerusalem was destroyed again (A.D. 70) and the Jews were scattered to the four corners of the earth. In the 20th century, these much-maligned people were decimated by the Nazi Holocaust. Jeremiah warned that a future time of trouble would distress Jacob, a symbol for Israel, much worse than anything they had experienced thus far. Yet the prophet concluded this fearsome prediction with a promise: "But he shall be saved out of it."

This is the promise that every believer can hold to as well. Even though the "time of Jacob's trouble" specifically refers to Israel, we all face our own troubles. And sometimes these difficulties become more severe than we can handle. Perhaps cancer strikes, or a loved one dies, or we lose our job and can't find another. In the midst of these tribulations, God assures us we shall be saved out of them.

If you are going through a trial that seems more severe than what you've ever faced before, look to God for deliverance. Take confidence in the promise that, at the right time, God will save you out of it. That's His word to you.

Keep looking up. Your redemption is drawing near...Have a great day. Thank God and thank you.