God Holds Your Future

Do you ever read a book and flip to the end to see what happens, because you just can’t wait? I am that person. I want to know what is going to happen, how and when. As soon as possible!

Sadly when I was young, I used to read my horoscope and follow astrology. I didn’t know it was witchcraft and sorcery. It used to be in the newspaper everyday. Once I came to know Jesus, I had a feeling that I needed to trust in Jesus for my future, so I stopped reading my horoscope. Years later, I started attending a church that clearly says these practices are wrong. I followed my conviction years before, but I appreciate hearing truth taught from the bible. Like, oh that was the Holy Spirit guiding me, thank you God!

Today I read Jeremiah 10. It starts by saying not to follow astrology (reading your future in the stars). Along with that, don’t be afraid of these predictions. The people that believe them worship idols made by people, then carved and decorated. The idols are objects that cannot speak or walk. They need to carried around and propped up like a scarecrow in a field. They cannot do you harm or good. Worshiping idols will anger God. 

There is only one true God, our everlasting King of Heaven and Earth. God created the earth and will now and forever be the Ruler. God knows how He put the earth together, and preserves His knowledge. I think He lets us uncover tiny fragments of knowledge through math and science discoveries, as a gift to us. Humans don’t know anything. Only God knows the intricacies of how He made the world. 

Jeremiah prays to God, saying only God holds our future in His hands. Only He knows what will happen next. Jeremiah prays for gentle correction, because God’s full wrath would kill us. 

In life, we can’t quickly flip to the end and find out the outcome. God knows how it will end. God knows your life from start to finish. Even though we don’t know what the future holds, we do know the One who holds our future. Trust in God with all your days, good and bad. God holds your future. 

Idolatry Brings Destruction

Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O Israel! 

This is what the Lord says:

“Do not act like the other nations,
who try to read their future in the stars.
Do not be afraid of their predictions,
even though other nations are terrified by them.

Their ways are futile and foolish.
They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.

They decorate it with gold and silver
and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails

Their gods are like
helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field!
They cannot speak,
and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of such gods,
for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”

Lord, there is no one like you!
For you are great, and your name is full of power.

Who would not fear you, O King of nations?
That title belongs to you alone!
Among all the wise people of the earth
and in all the kingdoms of the world,
there is no one like you.

People who worship idols are stupid and foolish.
The things they worship are made of wood!

They bring beaten sheets of silver from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz,
and they give these materials to skillful craftsmen
who make their idols.
Then they dress these gods in royal blue and purple robes
made by expert tailors.

But the Lord is the only true God.
He is the living God and the everlasting King!
The whole earth trembles at his anger.
The nations cannot stand up to his wrath.

Say this to those who worship other gods: “Your so-called gods, who did not make the heavens and earth, will vanish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

But the Lord made the earth by his power,
and he preserves it by his wisdom.
With his own understanding
he stretched out the heavens.

When he speaks in the thunder,
the heavens roar with rain.
He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his storehouses.

The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge!
The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make,
for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.
These idols have no breath or power.

Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!
On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.

But the God of Israel is no idol!
He is the Creator of everything that exists,
including Israel, his own special possession.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name!

The Coming Destruction

Pack your bags and prepare to leave;
the siege is about to begin.

For this is what the Lord says:
“Suddenly, I will fling out
all you who live in this land.
I will pour great troubles upon you,
and at last you will feel my anger.”

My wound is severe,
and my grief is great.
My sickness is incurable,
but I must bear it.

My home is gone,
and no one is left to help me rebuild it.
My children have been taken away,
and I will never see them again.

The shepherds of my people have lost their senses.
They no longer seek wisdom from the Lord.
Therefore, they fail completely,
and their flocks are scattered.

Listen! Hear the terrifying roar of great armies
as they roll down from the north.
The towns of Judah will be destroyed
and become a haunt for jackals.

Jeremiah’s Prayer

I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own.
We are not able to plan our own course.

So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle.
Do not correct me in anger, for I would die.

Pour out your wrath on the nations that refuse to acknowledge you—
on the peoples that do not call upon your name.
For they have devoured your people Israel;
they have devoured and consumed them,
making the land a desolate wilderness.

—Jeremiah 10 (NLT)

Sing Your Praises