NAVIGATING THROUGH CRISIS

Jeremiah 1:4~7
   -Jeremiah is called by God to prepare the ppl for the coming hardship
      -prophetic is not abt predicting the future but preparing for the future
         -be ready when the hardship is here

2 things Jeremiah has to do as a prophet
- prepare the ppl for the hardship
   -if ppl are prepared, they could still experience goodness of God!
-to preach hope to the ppl
   -there will be a day of the end of the crisis and there will be a day of restoration
*we should have faith and hope in God!

Jeremiah 1:4~8
   -when God presents us with a problem, we always think tt we are not good enough
   John 6:5~6
      -for every anticipated problem, God alr have a solution in mind

Jeremiah 1:17~19

*we must learn to be shaped by vision and not by sight..
   -vision is by God's word

Jeremiah encountered 2 visions
1. an almond rod

-"almond" and "watching" has similar word in Hebrews
   -God spoke this word vision of almond to Jeremiah, almond became a symbol tt God will fulfill His words

-even if things are still difficult, Jeremiah anticipate tt God's word will nv fail

-Jeremiah is skillful in hope and faith

-hope and faith builds resilience and strength in our being

2. a boiling pot

-this shows how the enemies are coming

-the hot water comes from a pot..not from heaven
   -there is a limit!
-evil effect of it will be contained
   -God will set boundaries to the chaos

-the pot is at the north
   -north is usually known as the direction where God is...God is still in control!
      -God will contain the effects of the evil

*a crisis is a chaos to us, but its just a rearrangement to God
*it takes faith and vision to see that every crisis has a limit and tt God is in control

-no evil shall befall you doesn't mean tt we will not encounter evil..but the effect is limited by God

-not a way out to escape, but to endure till the end of the crisis

*as long as we can name the crisis, the name of Jesus is above every other name!

Jesus died for us to bring goodness