ON THE VANGUARD

CALL TO ME
“’Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’”
Jeremiah 33:3

When I was a child, probably around the age of thirteen or so, a guest speaker came and spoke to our youth group. I didn’t know much about him personally. Sure, he had gray hair in where hair still sprung, and wore a suit in the midst of a bunch of teenagers, but other than that, the only characteristic I remember was him being introduced as a man who heard from God. The youth leader shared with us that his desire was for the man to go up and down the rows, giving us a verse personally as God was speaking to him. So he began. When he landed on me he called out, “Jeremiah 33:3.” He continued by sharing what the verse said, but then also stated, “God wants you to ask Him, and not to be afraid to ask Him.”
Jeremiah 33:3 reads, “’Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’” I remember going back home that Wednesday night after church, both excited by the truth of this verse, but also questionable in what I should ask. What were the unsearchable things I did not know? And was there possibly a question that God would not answer? So then, as a teenager I just asked what I thought was safe. Sitting in bed, waiting for sleep to come over me, I remember asking, “What do you want me to know?”
I have grown up a little since then, but I still find myself asking the same question. Grated these days I have more of a spring board to ask from. Seeing certain events at the time, my questions now are whether I should move out in something specifically, or should I go to that place. And occasionally there is still the question of what am I going to be when I grow up. But the truth is that in every question I always receive an answer – if I am listening. And why? Well the answer to why is because God honors His word. God guarantees us that if we call to Him, He will answer.
But can it really be this easy? Well to answer that, let us look at a few key words in the Hebrew and see just what they mean. First we should look at the word ‘call’. The word ‘call’ is the Hebrew word QARA’, meaning to utter a loud noise; to cry out as if for help. There have been many times when both desperately and non-desperately I have needed His help. Crying out to Him in these times is what I have done, and what He wants us to do according to this verse. “Cry out to me, asking me for help, and I will answer you…” ‘Answer’ is the Hebrew word ‘ANAH. Its meaning is to respond or speak. So far this verse is translated literally in that if we cry out, God will respond. There is no hidden meaning, no hoop to jump through, no special prayer to recite. It is just literally us voicing and Him responding. His response, as we see, is the great and unsearchable things we do not know. Simply put, these are the GADOWL BATSAR, translated as the important secrets and mysteries. These are the things that God wants us to call out to Him concerning so that He can reveal them to us.
This definition from the Hebrew wording makes me think of Penn and Teller. I was recently watching a show of theirs where they performed the trick of cutting someone in half. First they did it in the standard black boxes a magician uses. Then they performed the same trick in clear plastic boxes. In the black boxes, the trick was a mystery. In the clear boxes, I finally saw how they moved around to give the appearance of a woman actually cut in two. It is the same here in this verse. God is acknowledging that we see our situation, our questions, and our future, as something of a black box. But in calling on Him, He answers us and begins to show us the truth, uncovering the mystery by showing us the things we do not know.
Jeremiah reminds us in Jeremiah 33:3 that we are to call to the LORD and He will answer us and tell us the things we do not know. As we cannot see the end result of every decision we make, would it not be best that we inquire from the One who can see it all? Sure, this may put a damper on spontaneous decision making, but if it saves me from making a decision I may regret or pay for later, then I think I will take my time and see what God says. In the end, I want to be one who is yielded to God and followed His ways.