Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it…

Jeremiah 32:24

Walls were built around the cities in ancient times, walls that were designed to keep the people safe from enemy invaders. These walls probably gave them a sense of security until the day they noticed that their enemy was building up mounds of dirt along the wall to enable them to climb right over.  Can you imagine sitting inside this wall and hearing the report that the enemy was advancing and preparing to invade your space?  Can you imagine the fear and dread that that would have produced in those people?

Siege mounds came up against our family. We were doing just fine, believing all was well, and then a bucket of dirt landed outside our wall, beginning the process of destroying our sense of security. The first dirt to land was a diagnosis of cancer, not just in my husband but my daughter as well. The biopsies performed on the same day.  The next bucket load of dirt was a water pump that went out on my van, then the brakes, then a delay in payment from disability insurance. Then the company my husband works for informed him they would not pay his insurance premiums during his time off from cancer treatment, then bills started stacking up.  One bucket load of dirt after another. I saw the walls we had built for security becoming smaller and smaller while the dirt mounds became bigger and bigger.

As the Israelites watched the siege mounds grow bigger and bigger, Jeremiah the prophet, turns to God imploringly and do you know what God said?

He said, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there anything too difficult for Me?”

I think He would say the same thing to me today.

 Are the siege mounds stacking up against you? Does it seem hopeless? Are you watching all your plans and hopes go down the drain and feel helpless to stop any of it?

I think God would say the same thing to you to today – “Is there anything too difficult for Me?”

The people in this story of the Bible go through difficult times; the wall is penetrated and the enemy does indeed take over the city. Nevertheless, through it all, God was faithful and the last thing He said to them at the close of this chapter was, “I will restore their fortunes.”

I used to believe healing meant not going through something, just being delivered from the disease. Sometimes, that is how God works. Other times, however, He allows the hardship to be something we go through. This does not change His love for us or His compassion or His faithfulness to us, when He allows these things to be part of our lives. He has not turned away, He has not forgotten us, He is not punishing us, He is not ignoring our cries and in the end, He promises restoration.

That first bucket load of dirt was overwhelming and I felt so powerless. Like Jeremiah, I have nowhere else to turn but to You, Lord. You are the God of all flesh and I believe nothing is too difficult for You. You know how much I would rather see You just remove the cancer from my loved ones, but I am grateful that Your path of healing for them leads them to restoration. I trust You to work that in their lives. I pray for them that as they see the dirt mounds growing higher, that they would lean closer into You and see Your power at work in their lives for their good and Your glory. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

pic credit: zazzle