Scripture
While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city and the royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the siege ramps and the sword in the fight with the Babylonians: ‘They will be filled with the dead bodies of the men I will slay in my anger and wrath. I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness. ” ‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. Jeremiah 33:1-6

Observation
Jeremiah saw the future from a confined place. He was locked up on police headquarters. It was hard to see. It was difficult to think. It was impossible to pray. But in that place, Jeremiah saw into the future. The government now bent on silencing him would fall. The city around him would lie in ruins. But beyond all of that would come God’s sovereign hand of rescue. That was a long ways for an imprisoned prophet to see ahead.

There are tight confines of life that keep us from seeing ahead. The Jeremiah secret is this: call out to the Lord. Raise your voice to heaven. Let your request be heard. Sound out with more courage than you feel. From the darkness beg for light. From the silence ask for a voice. In the fog seek direction. In the howling wind search for peace. Prayer is an act of defiance of circumstances that shouts above the storm to our God who hears us.

When we call, he will answer. As a mother responds to her baby’s cry, so the Lord will hear and rescue us. Rest in the assurance that God will answer. The promise is that the prayers we defiantly pray in difficult times will reveal to us greater things than we would have heard any other time. It is odd, but the best answers to prayer come in the most difficult times. He will show us great things, bigger than we can accomplish. He will reveal to us mighty things, too powerful for us to attain.

Application
Today I will lift up my voice to be heard.

Prayer
Father, hear me calling out to you today Lord. Amen.