Jeremiah, known as the weeping prophet, declares through his life the grief of a God that had been forsaken by His own people. How does a human being declare the grief of a perfect God? Through trials, persecution, and constant sorrow in Jeremiah’s life we as readers catch a glimpse of the anguish in God’s heart as He watches the people run away from Him.
This man, whom God had chosen to be his mouthpiece to a lost and backsliding people of God, was not unlike many of us. His personality was contrary to this task that God had called him to (Jeremiah 11:19) and many times Jeremiah questioned God and even cursed the day of his birth (Jeremiah 20:14). Maybe we haven’t all reached a point of cursing the day we were born, but I have felt the substantial weight of the task that we are called to as Christians and it terrifies me. How am I, a sinful wreck of a girl, supposed to love others unconditionally and fight through the copious amounts of darkness that surround me? Why did God think I was capable for this task and how do I push forward when all that is within me cries to fall back?
In the country that I live darkness is every where; yet, it is not seen as darkness. The lost practically accept their lostness with joy and whenever truth is shared they run from it. The people that Jeremiah spoke to did have a concept of the Almighty God and who He was, but these people that I live next to, work with, and laugh with have no notion of the Savior. It feels like a losing battle.
When I share, it is rejected.
When He seems to convict the heart of people, they run from it and ignore His call of salvation.
My heart is in pieces most days because I feel as if I haven’t done enough, or that I’ve done it all wrong. I question God, not in doubt, but in sincerity seeking to know why He called me to this field. His Son said that the fields were white for harvest, yet this place feels like it is in a perpetual famine. Why? Why Lord? He understands my grief. He grieves himself for the hearts of His beloved creation. The different is that he doesn’t grieve from lacking the ability to save. God is not lacking in might or power. He grieves because of the blatant disobedience of those who have believed in His word and keep quiet. He is grieved because there are so few workers. The grief he feels will never compare to the sorrow we experience.
A sob story is not what anyone needs, and this is not that. But it is a call for the church to fight. A fight which is fought from our knees, instead of picking up our swords, and beg the Father “who makes things grow” to move in the fields of Japan (1 Corinthians 3:7).
It is a call to hope, even when hope seems ridiculous. It is a call to praise Him, even after the questions like Jeremiah did (Jeremiah 20:13).
It is a call to remember that His ways will never be understood by our feeble and temporal minds.
A call to recognize that our grief will never be compared to His as he watches his creation day after day step into an eternity without Him.
A call to recognize that our grief will never be compared to His as he watches his creation day after day step into an eternity without Him.
But it is also a call to share boldly, love wildly, and trust endlessly in His goodness and grace.
Jeremiah’s heart was for His King and his King’s heart was grieving for the souls of His creation. And so, when the questions abounded and the response to Jeremiah’s call to repentance was a roaring mockery he plowed on (Jer. 20:1-2). Because He trusted that the one who had called Him would equip and His words which were faithful and true would never fail.
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