a little wine for your troubles

Today I’m braving a huge ask of the Father.

I find myself emboldened to do it based on a morning reading from one of the ancient prophets. No doubt we’re all familiar with the famous verse where the Father invites Jeremiah to,

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

Jeremiah 33:3, ESV

As happens so many times (for you too, I’d wager), I had just unrolled on the Lord a heavy burden before turning to the Word. In short order I sensed the Spirit opening to me the Father’s heart in the very place I was reading.

Here I found my Ebenezer.*

The Lord challenged Jeremiah to do something bold, mind-stretching, and unthinkable. He invited the prophet to ‘accost’ him with a demand (that’s the Hebrew sense of the word); to open his mouth and throw up on the Almighty all that was in his heart.

Don’t hold back, my son, he commanded. So I’m not.

If you set the passage in its context you’ll find this is part of an ongoing dialogue between Potentate and prophet. In verse one we see the call for holy boldness is embedded in the “second” of three separate promises made to Jeremiah.

The first promise comes in the previous chapter:

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?…”

Jeremiah 32:26-27, NIV

I’m not going to tell you what I’m asking of the Father but I can tell you the huge favor I’m regurgitating on him is not for me but for another. This person needs a miracle and they needed it yesterday.

“Is anything too hard for Me?”

The answer, we already know in our hearts, is no. Nothing is outside or beyond him. When life gives you lemons, God makes us a pitcher of lemonade. Or wine, as the next promise elucidates.

The second promise is sweet to the palate. God tells Jeremiah to “call out,” unload upon, barrage the Almighty with his request.

You mean it, Lord? Jeremiah must have wondered.

“I most definitely do…and what’s more, when you do it, I’ll take you down to My wine cellar and produce the finest vintage** you can imagine!”

We have the promise that (whatever we ask) the Father won’t ridicule us or tell us we’re stupid. He’s never in a “condescending” mood toward his trusting children. Ask, he tells us. Go ahead, he proffers. I dare you. I want you to “blow up my feed.”

What a picture. We share with him an agony of soul and he responds by placing a glass of his choicest wine in our hands. What does it mean? It means we have royal access to his vault and whatever burdens we bring are met with heavenly vintage.

Wine is often code for “joy” in the scriptures. Rest assured, beloved, your Father trades in joy and he means to get you in the same mood and mindset he’s in.

I said there are three promises given Jeremiah (and by extension, US too, as each can be borne up by scripture) in this running dialogue. The third promise reads this way:

…keep watching! I will restore this city and heal the wounds of My people. I will lavish them with peace and stability.

Jeremiah 33:6, Voice

Restore.

Heal.

Lavish.

Jeremiah was weeping for the City. He longed to see the wicked removed and the holy shine come back. He was sick of the lies and deception from the most powerful voices and wanted them muted. He yearned to see all wrongs righted and a Righteous Day return.

God said, Keep your eyes on the City. It’s still MY City. You’ll be tempted to lose hope but I have plans for My City. Keep watching. You’ll see it in due time if you don’t lose faith.

Today I am arming myself with this trio of promises and storming the throne room. I’m asking God to uphold the cause of a wounded soul and restoring to them all the years the locusts have ravaged. I have something very specific in mind. And bold. I believe it’s a righteous ask. Amen.

And, as Paul counseled Timothy, I invite you to drink some wine for what’s ailing you. Perhaps leave a “pray with me” or a “pray for me” (nothing more need be shared) in the comments?

In any case, I pray for him to restore, heal, and lavish Himself for you in your great hour of need.

Selah, beloved.

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*Ebenezer means ‘Stone of help’

** “hidden” is synonymous with ‘inaccessible’ but the Hebrew adds the wonderful nuance of ‘vintage’ (as in grapes)