God Is Willing to Save Sinners
God’s people in Judah had a problem; they doubted his willingness and power to redeem people entrenched in apostasy and idolatry. “They said, ‘That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart’” (Jeremiah 18:12, NKJV). Judah thought, “We’ve gone too far and there is no going back. We have left the Lord, mocked him, cast him aside and abused him. It’s too late. Not even God can bring us back.”
After all my years in ministry, I still have to fight this kind of thinking. You may feel the same. Maybe someone you love is an atheist, mean and godless. You’ve convinced yourself that they’re beyond saving.
The Lord said to Judah, “Is my hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem?” (Isaiah 50:2). To shorten means to “chop off.” God was saying, “Tell me, has the enemy chopped off my mighty arm? Have I lost my power to save? No! My mighty arm dried up the Red Sea. It clothed the heavens with blackness. It opened blind eyes. You have seen that I will save to the uttermost. So how can you think I have lost my power to redeem you?”
When did God lose his power to save the vilest sinner on earth? When did he lose his willingness to deliver lost, hopeless people even when nobody was praying for them? Would God somehow decide not to save your family members, for whom you have fasted and prayed faithfully? Absolutely not. We must cry out to him in faith, “Oh, Lord, you can save Wall Street. You can deliver sinners and criminals in New York City or Boise, Idaho . You can redeem unbelievers in every nation, and you can save any member of my family. Your arm is not too short. You can save anybody!”
Don’t believe God’s hand has been chopped off. Instead, believe him for the impossible. Hold onto a vision of his love and mercy, of his mighty outstretched arm, all-powerful to save. We are to pray and be patient and he will gather in our loved ones, one at a time!
“‘Return, O backsliding children,’ says the Lord; ‘for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion’” (Jeremiah 3:14).
