“If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?
– Jeremiah 12:5
Jeremiah’s calling was trying. He was to preach to a people who would not turn from their sin. It was a Nation that would eventually be taken into captivity. What was his compensation for obedience? Jeremiah’s life was threatened. The men of Judah were devising schemes to kill him. Back against the wall and keenly aware of his surroundings, Jeremiah did the only thing he could. He prayed.
We find his prayer genuine and refreshing. Jeremiah is open-hearted with the Lord, as we all should be, for the Lord knows the heart. In the appeal to God, he questions the Lord’s judgment. The age-old question, “Why do the wicked seem to prosper while the godly seem to suffer”? Yet he concluded without waiting on the Lord to respond. We imagine him thinking, “If the Lord stopped me praying for their salvation, surely He would want me to begin praying for their destruction!” This became his new quest. Jeremiah requested that God come to his senses and slaughter those openly displaying rebellion and wickedness. For a moment, a godly man became an instrument in the hands of selfishness. Yet who can blame a man in such an exhausting and exasperating situation?
God’s answer to Jeremiah’s question was somewhat surprising. Rather than honoring the prophet’s request, Jeremiah receives firm instruction. No arms around him in comfort, only exhortations to “keep that chin up” and maintain a “stiff upper lip.” It was going to get worse with much more bitter opposition. God indicated that if Jeremiah found his present circumstances difficult, his future situation would be even worse. If Jeremiah easily folds in relatively calm conditions (running with the footmen), what would he do in the most severe trials (contending with horses)? Jeremiah needed to manage his emotions. Not only in times of peace but also when times were tough.
God describes the nation that He loves as His house and His inheritance. Judgment was not coming from the hardened heart of a capricious king. Though He wanted to do the opposite, God was forced to judge because of the people’s sins. What was true then is true now. May it be our earnest desire to leave judgment in the hands of the Lord, for vengeance is His. While He is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but all to come to repentance, it is ours only to diligently work the fields of harvest in this season of grace. In our desire to be godly, may we not attempt to help expedite God’s judicial process and timing.
“Real growth in grace is the result of sanctified trials. God often takes away our comforts and our privileges in order to make us better Christians. He trains His soldiers not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning them out and sending them on forced marches and into hard service. He makes them ford through streams, swim through rivers, climb mountains, and walk many long miles with heavy knapsacks of sorrow on their backs.”
– C.H. Spurgeon
surrendered devotions 