Jeremiah 1:5 New American Standard Bible (NASB) 5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Wow! This is the beginning of Jeremiah’s ministry and God tells him that God had already set Jeremiah apart for a special ministry, even before Jeremiah was a fetus! What an endorsement! How you can beat that vote of confidence? If a young person heard that kind of a prophecy today, they would be having visions of TV shows with lots of special effects. But hold on! Because God has something totally different in mind. From the beginning, God knew that His Chosen People were going to misbehave, despite all of his warnings. (Check out Deuteronomy 32 for God’s warnings to Israel. He doesn’t mince any words!) And now, guess who gets chosen to inform the nation that it’s payback time for abandoning the God of their salvation?
17 “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. 18 Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord.
We live in an age in which doing the right thing us may cause us to get sued, to lose business, lose jobs, lose all our possessions, or even be killed if we try to report the truth about a prominent political figure. The temptation to just keep quiet, to go along to get along, can be incredibly strong! How can we risk our family’s health and well – being? Many times, we feel like Tevia, the Milkman, in “Fiddler on the Roof,” “God, I know we are your chosen people, but couldn’t you choose someone else for a change?” And Jeremiah must have felt the same way. Jeremiah was a priest, for goodness’ sake! All he had to do was to just mouth nice platitudes and everybody would have approved. But denying the Word of the Lord was an impossibility for Jeremiah. “But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” Jeremiah 20:9. So Jeremiah followed the Lord, even when it meant accompanying the exiles from Jerusalem into Egypt, even though God had warned them never to go back to Egypt. Many times Jeremiah must have rolled his eyes heavenward and muttered the Aramaic equivalent of “Oi weh!” (Yiddish for “Oh misery!”)
Perhaps today you find yourself in the same position as Jeremiah. You took a stand for righteousness and now everything has fallen apart. The people you thought were your friends have abandoned you. Your name is being trashed on social media. Your teenagers are getting bullied at school. And you are left wondering why you couldn’t have just kept quiet. But remember, God sees. God knows. Your struggles have not been in vain, and God still has His hand on your life.
Lamentations 3:20 – 25 Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. 21 This I recall to my mind, and therefore I have hope. 22 The Lord’s lovingkindnesses [a]indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the [b]person who seeks Him.”
PRAYER: Father, today there are many of us who are suffering for righteousness’ sake, and it is terribly hard! We see no hope in our situation. But you are a God of infinite resources, and you have promised to honor those who honor you. Come into our situations and light the darkness. Provide the things that are needful! And above all else, Father, give us hope! In the matchless name of your Son our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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