Readings for today: Jeremiah 18-22, Psalms 18
I remember when I first came to saving faith in Jesus Christ. One day my life was headed in one direction. A direction that would lead to a lot of failure and pain and suffering, mostly self-inflicted. The next day, my life was headed in a completely different direction. A direction that has led to life and blessing and success. However, it would be a lie to say this second road was not without its challenges. I have faced all kinds of hardship and suffering as I sought to follow the call of God on my life. I have had to make all kinds of sacrifices I wouldn’t have otherwise made. I have struggled a great deal at times with depression and despair and a desire to run back to my old ways. What has kept me going? In short, God. God’s Word burns in my heart and in my bones. God’s Spirit put a call on my life I simply cannot deny. Perhaps that’s why I appreciate and understand on some level Jeremiah’s words from chapter 20…
“You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived. You seized me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all the time; everyone ridicules me. For whenever I speak, I cry out, I proclaim, “Violence and destruction!” so the word of the Lord has become my constant disgrace and derision. I say, “I won’t mention him or speak any longer in his name.” But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail...But the Lord is with me like a violent warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed, an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten. Lord of Armies, testing the righteous and seeing the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to you. Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord, for he rescues the life of the needy from evil people. May the day I was born be cursed. May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. May the man be cursed who brought the news to my father, saying, “A male child is born to you,” bringing him great joy. Let that man be like the cities the Lord demolished without compassion. Let him hear an outcry in the morning and a war cry at noontime because he didn’t kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, her womb eternally pregnant. Why did I come out of the womb to see only struggle and sorrow, to end my life in shame?” (Jeremiah 20:7-9, 11-18 CSB)
Reading Jeremiah is like riding a rollercoaster. The highs are extremely high. The lows are extremely low. The shifts in perspective seemingly come without warning. One moment, Jeremiah is lashing out at God accusing Him of coercion and deceit while in the next moment, he is clinging to God as a strong, protective warrior. He praises the Lord for His salvation and then curses the day he was born. It’s exhausting to be honest. And yet, it is also why his words resonate so deeply. Jeremiah’s vulnerability before the Lord is deeply compelling. It draws us into a life of faith that is real and raw and honest. It invites us to take the same journey with God. To walk with Him through every dark valley of shadow and rejoice with Him on every mountaintop. The reality is Jeremiah simply cannot escape the call of God on his life. Nor can we. Our lives are not our own. We’ve been bought with a price. We are God’s to use as He sees fit. And the sooner we embrace this truth, the better.
Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 23-25, Psalms 19