Good morning,
If people make you tired
In last weeks Monday Minute we were able to see the faith that Jeremiah demonstrated when he lived through the fall and destruction of his beloved country. The man who wrote those words wasn’t always that way. Years before those awful days Jeremiah had a serious problem with the way God was handling the wicked people all around him. At one point he complained to the Lord, Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy?(Jer.12:1) He couldn’t understand why a Holy God would allow these sinful people to get away with their life style. It especially aggravated him when, Your name is on their lips, but you are far from their hearts. v.2 As a young prophet, Jeremiah was still thinking in terms of a Holy God while forgetting that this same God was loving and long suffering even with the worst of sinners. It just didn’t make sense to him that bad people could have such a rich and trouble free life while those who loved God so much were being treated with scorn and hatred while doing what God has said was the right way to live.
If Jeremiah was expecting God to apologize, he was in for quite a shock. The Lord said, "If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? v.5 In Jeremiah’s day, the horse was the equivalent of our race cars today. He knew all to well that men didn’t stand a chance in a race against such a speedy, powerful animal. The Lord didn’t stop there. He also asked him, If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan? v.5 In Jeremiah’s day there were stretches of land along the banks of the Jordan river that were like jungles with lots of trees and brush and hungry lions. If he was having trouble with God’s plan when life was basically comfortable and ordinary, how would he ever be able to stand up against all the wicked leaders and prosperous people when the challenges would be so much more difficult then what he was facing now? God was telling Jeremiah that what he wanted from Jeremiah was a renewed commitment to trusting his Lord and Savior, knowing that life was going to get far more difficult then what he was facing then. An American today would say, “Son, you haven’t seen anything yet.” I think that what God’s family in our world today is going through is not the worst we are going to see. I think that God is giving us training in trust and obedience so that when things get impossibly hard we will have learned to trust the God of the impossible. Because the same Holy Spirit that lived in Jeremiah and Jesus is also living in us, we will be able to stand strong in his strength so that God’s name will be honored and glorified by the wonderful work he has planned for our lives. Please Lord, help us to grow up for your sake.
Jeremiah 12:5 "If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?
Roy Wisner
