The Righteous Branch Series

In the movie Gravity, veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski and rookie specialist Dr. Ryan Stone are working together in space to repair the Hubble Telescope. Out of the blue, Houston control aborts the mission, because a Russian missile hit a satellite, causing a chain reaction, and now there is a storm of debris raining upon the pair of astronauts. Soon they lose communication with the Mission Control in Houston. Kowalski drifts away, and Stone finds herself all alone.

Isolated and coming to grips with her mortality, Dr. Stone has the following conversation with God. Take a look (show Gravity Dr. Stone Praying video).

I'm gonna die, aren't I God? I know we're all gonna die...we're all gonna die. But I'm gonna die today! Funny that you ought to know. But the thing is I'm still scared … I'm really scared. Nobody will mourn for me; no one will pray for my soul. Will you mourn for me? Will you pray for me? Or is it too late? I mean, I'd pray for myself but I've never prayed in my life. Nobody ever taught me how. Nobody ever taught me how (Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron director, Warner Brothers, 2014, 0:59:15 to 1:00:20).

Dr. Stone was lost and alone with no hope for the future. Is that where you find yourself today? Then I invite you to turn with me to Jeremiah 33, Jeremiah 33, where Jeremiah and his nation find themselves in a similar predicament.

Jeremiah 33:1-5 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard: “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword: They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil (ESV).

Babylon has laid siege to the capital city of Jerusalem. The houses of Jerusalem along with its royal palaces were torn down to provide wood and stone to bolster the walls against the siege ramps. But it’s all for nothing, for God had turned away from Jerusalem. He had hidden His face from them because of their idolatry.

Jeremiah told them this would happen. Even when all the other prophets predicted Jerusalem’s victory, Jeremiah predicted the Babylonian siege and Jerusalem’s destruction. Jerusalem’s king, Zedekiah, hated Jeremiah’s for it, so he branded Jeremiah a traitor, arrested him, and threw him into jail. Now, Jeremiah is locked up and all alone. Babylon is about to overrun the city, and they have lost all hope.

That’s when God speaks to Jeremiah and says (verse 3), “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

What else can you do when all hope is lost. All you can do is call out to the Lord.

Phil Callaway didn't know what to say when his young children asked if Mommy was going to die. His wife, Ramona, suffered horrible seizures.

Hundreds of friends and relatives prayed, but Ramona's weight eventually slipped to 90 pounds. Medical specialists tried everything, but by the fall of 1996, the seizures were occurring daily, sometimes hourly.

Phil rarely left Ramona's side. He wondered if she would even make it to her 30th birthday. One evening, when things looked utterly hopeless, Phil paced their dark back yard, then fell to his knees. “God!” he cried out. “I can't take it anymore. Please do something!” It was a cry of desperation.

Then suddenly, a doctor's name came to mind. Phil called the doctor, who saw Ramona the next morning and diagnosed a rare chemical deficiency.

Within a week, Ramona's seizures ended. Her eyes sparkled again. The miracle was so incredible, Phil says, “God gave me back my wife” (Luis Palau, Christian Reader, Jan/Feb 2002, pp.12-13; www.PreachingToday.com).

God restored Ramona’s health, and that’s the “great and hidden thing” God tells Jeremiah He’ll do for Judah and Israel. In his desperation, any possible good is hidden from Jeremiah’s eyes, but God tells him…

Jeremiah 33:6-9 Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it (ESV).