Jeremiah 20:7-9 "O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay."
One of the greatest enemies we all face is the secret desire to quit. You will never get to a point where you will be immune from Satan's whispers that maybe you should just trough in the towel.
1. Could be Jeremiah had a ministry he did not really want.
(Jer 1:6) "Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child."
Lord you have the wrong man. You made a mistake this time.
2. Could be Jeremiah had a congregation he did not really like.
(Jer 9:2-3) "Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD."
I am sure you could find a better place that this desert to send me to school! This is a HARD place.
3. Could be Jeremiah was given a message he did not want to preach.
(Jer 1:10) "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."
Sounds a little like Jonah.
4. Could be Jeremiah had become discouraged because of persecution and ridicule.
(Jer 15:10) "Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me."
5. Could be that Jeremiah had figured himself as a failure ... no visible results after 40 years. No record of a single convert.
WHY DID HE NOT QUIT
1. He knew the call of God was on his life. (Jer 1:5) "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
2. He knew the presence of God was with him.
3. He knew the power of God was on his life. (Jer 1:19) "And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee."
Thank God when push came to shove he did not quit. He thought about it but in the end he did not.
SO did things improve?
(Jer 18:18) "Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words."
(Jer 20:2) "Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD."
(Jer 26:8) "Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die."
(Jer 37:15) "Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison."
(Jer 38:6) "Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire."
SO was it worth it Jeremiah?
(Mat 16:13-14) "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? {14} And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets."
By Jim Preston
One of the greatest enemies we all face is the secret desire to quit. You will never get to a point where you will be immune from Satan's whispers that maybe you should just trough in the towel.
1. Could be Jeremiah had a ministry he did not really want.
(Jer 1:6) "Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child."
Lord you have the wrong man. You made a mistake this time.
2. Could be Jeremiah had a congregation he did not really like.
(Jer 9:2-3) "Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD."
I am sure you could find a better place that this desert to send me to school! This is a HARD place.
3. Could be Jeremiah was given a message he did not want to preach.
(Jer 1:10) "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."
Sounds a little like Jonah.
4. Could be Jeremiah had become discouraged because of persecution and ridicule.
(Jer 15:10) "Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me."
5. Could be that Jeremiah had figured himself as a failure ... no visible results after 40 years. No record of a single convert.
WHY DID HE NOT QUIT
1. He knew the call of God was on his life. (Jer 1:5) "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
2. He knew the presence of God was with him.
3. He knew the power of God was on his life. (Jer 1:19) "And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee."
Thank God when push came to shove he did not quit. He thought about it but in the end he did not.
SO did things improve?
(Jer 18:18) "Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words."
(Jer 20:2) "Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD."
(Jer 26:8) "Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die."
(Jer 37:15) "Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison."
(Jer 38:6) "Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire."
SO was it worth it Jeremiah?
(Mat 16:13-14) "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? {14} And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets."
By Jim Preston
1 comment:
Those are really good points. We all get really discouraged sometimes. Sometimes life is really hard. But like you said about Jeremiah, we can know the call of God, the presence of God and the power of God. Amen!
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