Jeremiah Compelled to Preach
Open Your Bible
Jeremiah 20:1-18, Jeremiah 21:1-14, Jeremiah 22:1-30, Isaiah 9:6-7, John 11:25-26
BY Kaitie Stoddard
Have you ever felt God place a message on your heart that you couldn’t help but share? Sometimes that calling arrives on your doorstep when you least expect it. That was the case for me when my daughter was diagnosed with Down syndrome. God has used her life to show me His deep love for all people, regardless of their abilities or achievements. My eyes have been opened to the shortcomings in my own heart, and in the heart of our culture, to affirm the worth of every human being because they are made in the image of God. I knew God was leading me to spread the word about how “perfectly and wonderfully made” people with Down syndrome are.
Sometimes the task God gives us is unpopular. The truth can be divisive, and by sharing the truth of the gospel we may lose friends, family, and opportunities. In some parts of the world, the consequences of faith are far more dire, putting the very lives of believers at risk for preaching the Word. The prophet Jeremiah was no stranger to persecution. He was given the dangerous assignment of calling Jerusalem out for their injustice and unfaithfulness to God. And while he was faithful to preach that message, it was not without internal wrestling.
One might look at the prophets of old and assume that witnessing is somehow easier for them than it is for you and me. We might think they liked the public stage and all that came with it. But Jeremiah makes it clear he would run away from the spotlight in a second if it didn’t mean running away from God too. So why doesn’t Jeremiah forget the risky business of prophecy and find a more convenient, safe way to serve God? Jeremiah is compelled to speak out because, as he said, the Lord’s message “becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in” (Jeremiah 20:9). His heart is so deeply tethered to the Lord’s that he cannot waver from his created purpose.
As followers of Jesus, God places specific callings to our lives through the movement of the Holy Spirit in us. For each one of us, the big-picture calling is to proclaim the name of Jesus. But we have all been entrusted with unique circumstances and gifts that shape the way we point the world to Christ.
What is the specific “burning” you feel in your bones? Are you being faithful to proclaim it? While it’s tempting to let the fear of repercussion silence you, look to the faith of Jeremiah for courage. He was a man who preached a dangerous message and experienced the backlash, but knew deep down he could do nothing less. The reason Jeremiah was able to be so bold was not because he was strong or special, but because he trusted that God is a “violent warrior,” one who could not be stopped (Jeremiah 20:11). That same powerful God is calling you and me to share the truth with the world in a very particular way. He will be with us every step of the way. The question is, will we let God speak through our lives?
59 thoughts on "Jeremiah Compelled to Preach"
-
Chapter 20, verse 12 drew me to see how frustrated Jeremiah was. No matter the truth he told, no one listened. All his friends turned on him. Jeremiah begs the Lord “let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause”. How many times have my thoughts been similar for far less serious matters! “I sure would like to see them get what they have coming. They have done me and/or my cause wrong and I want to see them fail!”. Jeremiah was human with human emotions and ways. He had to trust that God was on his side. Lord, give me the ability to trust as Jeremiah did.
-
So grateful for Jesus’ words spoken in John today! It’s been a hard 16 days getting here in the midst of The broken world around us!
-
When I read “That same powerful God is calling you and me to share the truth with the world in a very particular way. He will be with us every step of the way. The question is, will we let God speak through our lives?” I realized that much of what God has done in my life has been for a reason. When my older son died, I realize now it was for me to share my faith because many people ask how I got through it. When my other son got arrested for drugs and my father stepped in to be the father figure he needed, it showed me how family love and faith (my father’s faith ran very deep) can bring a family closer. Every year something in my life, sometimes big sometimes small, allows me to draw closer to God and Christ and share my faith due to my life experiences.
God thank you for sending your son to die for me. I praise you and glorify you. I realize that sometimes the bad things in life happen for a reason and it maybe a while before I realize why they happened. Amen -
I love the juxtaposition between David’s throne in Jeremiah’s time and the words of Isaiah about when Jesus will reign:
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this. -
Amen Angie
-
What has really stood out for me today is that Jeremiah wasn’t finding this easy. Thinking about it, I’m not really sure why this was such a surprise to me – he’s not exactly sharing things that people would be glad to hear! But, I guess I always forget that these prophets from the OT were people just like me. They had feelings just like me. They had worries just like me.
They were ridiculed for their prophesies. They were imprisoned. They were hurt in front of others.
I’ve never given that thought that actually, they may have had their doubts. They may have wanted an easier life at times. They may have found it so difficult to go against what a culture believe and how they behave. Yet they carried on going.
Despite feeling all of this conflict, Jeremiah carried on going – he couldn’t help himself.Wow. I want to be more like Jeremiah. I want to keep sharing and keep going even when I doubt and it gets hard.
-
I agree, Hannah! Thanks for sharing your reflections. You put into words what I was thinking and feeling too!
-
-
Not sure if anyone else feels this way while reading Jeremiah, but it is an eerie experience to read the recent news about the coronavirus with the backdrop of Jeremiah running through my head.
An American friend living in China has been witnessing the virus’ unfolding first hand and feels such frustration with how things are being handled here in America. He commented that his response, in trying to make people in the US more aware of the situation’s severity, is a bit like sharing the gospel. Sharing the gospel is of eternal significance; sharing the gravity of this situation is of temporal significance. Instead of the jokes I see flying around, what if we took it seriously? Instead of making fun of Jeremiah, what if we listened? Might we help contain something before our hospitals are overrun? (Even if the virus isn’t personally a risk for us, what happens when hospitals can’t take on people in car wrecks, needing chemotherapy, emergency surgery?) Might we save the lives of neighbors, grandparents, immunosuppressed friends?
This is my heart and fear today. So much anxiety is swirling within me that it’s hard to see past it. And yet, I also know we are told not to fear. That our God fights for us. And so I’m trying to balance the dizzying news, and the personal and community responsibility to respond with wisdom, with the knowledge that Gods grace is sufficient today for today. His grace will lead me home. I can rest and trust in him.
-
Yes yes yes! Agree with your friend about the Coronavirus situation in the US as a healthcare provider who works in urgent care and wishes we had acted sooner. Also wish that the population at large would take it more seriously since many of the precautions we recommend are to protect the vulnerable (elderly, those with compromised immune systems/chronic disease, etc) rather than the otherwise healthy who will recover but very well could be carriers to others unknowingly. So many real concerns regarding this pandemic yet God is not surprised by any of it and will be with us. He has given us a spirit not of fear but power and love and self control (2 Tim 1:7). Joining with you in the prayer for wisdom and resting in Jesus and his all sufficient grace❤️
-
-
i think ive spent years trying to figure out what exactly im here to do. all my endeavors have been half-hearted. And I’ve always felt God setting my heart on fire, like Jeremiah here… and i just let it sit there, like change burning a hole in my pocket
Post Comments (59)