Savage2Saint Sobriety Sept 22, 2025

So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to a room in the palace beneath the treasury, where he found some old rags and discarded clothing. He carried these to the cistern and lowered them to Jeremiah on a rope. - Jeremiah 38:11 (NLT).

Has God ever pulled you out of a mess? Has He ever made a way when there didn't seem to be a way? I've learned in my walk with Jesus that He is faithful. He's been my fourth man in the fire, parted waters, given me a life I don't deserve, and performed miracles right before my very eyes. He's met me in my mess, picked me up, dusted me off, placed my feet on solid ground, and set me back on the right path. It's safe to say, I've seen too much not to believe.

In Jeremiah 38, the prophet had been thrown into a cistern full of mud and clay and left for dead. He was doomed. Sentenced to die. No hope. No way out. There's no doubt he was praying and asking God to save him. To send someone to help. Anyone to help. 'Lord, if You'll save me this time, I'll do whatever You ask!' Have you ever prayed that prayer? Have you ever attempted to negotiate a safe passage with the Lord? You're not alone. We've all prayed that prayer at some point in our lives. Probably too many times to count, and if you haven't, you will.

I'd like to think that Jeremiah trusted God. I'd like to believe that he, like myself, had already seen too much not to believe that God was going to come through. After all, Jeremiah is assumed to be the author of 1 & 2 Kings. He knew the stories. He had heard about David and Goliath, Solomon and his gift of wisdom. Jeremiah had grown up with story after story of God coming through for His people in mighty and amazing ways. Yes, Jeremiah knew the awesome power of the God He served. So, what do you think was going through his mind when his saving grace in that cistern came in the form of old rags and discarded clothing. I can hear Jeremiah's next prayer, 'Um, Lord. Is this from You? I thought I ordered a stairway to heaven!'

Yes, we serve a faithful God. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us. but sometimes His deliverance doesn't always come in the way we think it should. When we're in the mess, our choice of rescue isn't always the same as God's, because sometimes it's our choices that got us in the mess to begin with. For me, deliverance came in the form of a few months in prison and then a few more months in a halfway house. Neither were my choice, but through it all I've learned to simply trust in God. His ways are higher than our ways. God Bless!