Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. Romans 5:3-5.

Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. Proverbs 29:25.

We come to the final chapter of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 52. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years…He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end He thrust them from His presence. Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled…v. 1-7. It goes on to describe the total destruction…On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan commander of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields. v. 12-16. Everything from the temple of the Lord was removed and taken to Babylon before it was burned. The last paragraph of the chapter tells us what happened to Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. Jehoiakim had been killed and Jehoiachin only ruled for 3 months before being taken to Babylon and Zedekiah was put on the throne to replace him. In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived, till the day of his death. v. 31-34.

I have never been through a siege, or a holocaust, or been in battle. I have never been held in captivity, my life circumstances completely altered. My fears and worries pale in significance. I’ve also never been in a school with other school children being massacred by their worst fears, the boogie-man become real and dangerous. I’ve never lived in drug and violence-plagued neighborhoods. What people have suffered throughout the history of mankind, I can only read about and shudder. And in my very protected life, I have needed and turned to Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. He was always there with me. Not because I am special or different from those who have suffered grievously. This life we live in this broken world will try our souls. I am grateful for the faithfulness of Jeremiah. I am grateful for the faithfulness of all the witnesses who have gone before me. Their lives have shown me what is a blessing: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6. I’m learning that I don’t need to frantically pray for the one and only path that I, or those I love, need to stay on, as though by my frantic prayer all will be well. God will be with me and with those I love and with you on our paths that is this life we live. He is God With Us…Immanuel. And in this life there will be sufferings, and persecutions, and hardship. And we will need the love of God to help us mature because of those sufferings and persecutions and hardships. He knows we can’t do this on our own. So…He poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. Our understanding is so flawed because we live in and are a part of this very broken world. But this I know…we can trust Creator God with His help always.