SATURDAY, 20 APRIL 2024
TEXT:
Jeremiah 20:7-18
7:
You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I
am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.
8:
Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word
of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long.
9:
But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his
word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of
holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
10:
I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let’s denounce
him!” All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, “Perhaps he will be
deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.”
11:
But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and
not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will
never be forgotten.
12:
Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let
me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause.
13:
Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.
14:
Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15:
Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, who made him very glad,
saying, “A child is born to you—a son!”
16:
May that man be like the towns the Lord overthrew without pity. May he hear
wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon.
17:
For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged
forever.
18:
Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my
days in shame?
(New International Version Holy
Bible)
TOPIC:
SERVING GOD IS NO GUARANTEE FOR AN EASY LIFE
Jeremiah's
confusion is further deepened by the fact that not only is he hated by the
people, even his own friends despise him. It seemed the Lord gave him a very
hard task and abandoned him to his fate.
Even
though he complained in moments of pain and frustration, deep down in his heart
he was full of the knowledge of God's awesome power as a mighty warrior and
called for vengeance upon his enemies.
When
things are not going the way we expect as believers, do we still remember all
that the Lord had done for us in the past and trust Him to see us through the
present?
Jeremiah
wished he was aborted in his mother's womb. But he forgot what the Lord had
said about him and his calling into the ministry (Jer. 1:4-8).
As
a minister of God, always remember your calling, especially in times of unease.
Also know that, just as it was in the past, God hasn't changed. He remains
faithful to those who continue to trust Him.
QUESTION:
When you are at the crossroads of life, do you back out or seek God?
PRAYER:
Let me always remember, dear Lord, that Your calling upon me is not in to a
life of absolute ease but of service and obedience to You, in Jesus name. Amen.
Remain
Blessed
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