July 19, 2013 – Jeremiah 15

sisyphusClick here to read Jermiah 15 on BibleGateway.com

Futility. Such a great word. It almost laughs at our futile attempts at spelling or pronouncing it correctly. How many words can openly mock you with their meaning by their very existence?  It’s so universal, too. How many of us have felt the proverbial wall against our forehead as we try to explain simple concepts to the dunderheads who surround us on a daily basis? (it’s called a “turn-signal, people.)

“SMITE THEM, AND THEY SHALL BE SMOTEN”

The lives of the Old Testament prophets are often a study in futility. They try repeatedly to share God’s truth with the Israelites, and time and again the Israelites listen only long enough for God to relieve their immediate suffering before disobeying God once again. CoughSoundsFamiliarcough.  Poor Jeremiah, the futiliest of the futile in the Bible, spends so much time futilely trying to convince his fellows to follow God that we could almost put his picture in the dictionary next to “don’t even bother.”

Many times we may feel the same hopelessness. We pray and pray for that loved one, and they still refuse to come to God. We preach and preach, and the congregation just looks at their watch waiting for the game to start. We give and give, only to have someone mock us for being selfish. How do we deal with it? We may do like Jeremiah, asking God to make them listen, or somehow make Himself more clear to people.

WONDER(FUL) WALL

But notice how God answers Jeremiah in verses 19 and 20: “if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them…I will make you a wall to this people… for I am with you.” God turns it back on Jeremiah; He will not make Jeremiah’s listener’s more receptive or his task easier, but He will strengthen Jeremiah.

We often ask the same thing; we want God to make our path through life as easy as possible. We want a nice home, a fun job, well-behaved kids, a church that is enjoyable but not too challenging, and a good retirement package. Yet God repeatedly says in the Bible that an easy life is not his goal for us. Instead, he walks with us through the storms. He makes us strong to stand against mockers. He makes us as stubborn as those who reject him.

Stand firm today; Someone is right beside you.

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