“You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.” (Jeremiah 20:7 NIV)
Jeremiah’s obedience to the Lord caused him great distress. He had been instructed: don’t marry, don’t have any children. Don’t go to weddings or funerals. And every time he opened his mouth to speak on God’s behalf: he proclaimed violence and judgement. Needless to say, he was not a popular prophet. Yet God’s word was shut up in him like a fire in his bones. He could not help but speak the truth that was burning through him. And all that truth caused him tremendous relational grief with the world around him.
We call Jeremiah the weeping prophet and it’s because he routinely proclaimed such sad messages of impending judgement and doom. I wonder also, if he wept over his personal life. Prophets aren’t without private feelings. Surely he was terribly lonely, without a wife and family and unable to attend normal social functions. Almost all of Jeremiah 20 is a lament. Jeremiah shared reply about the difficulties of his divine position. He reminds the reader of a hard truth: the further we go with God, the lonelier it’s likely to become. The crowd thins. But in light of eternity, it is worth the social sacrifice.
“But the Lord us with me, like a mighty warrior.” (Jeremiah 20:11 NIV)
Jeremiah said it, I wonder when he actually believed it? When did he always see God’s presence as a plus and not a minus? Jeremiah suffered intensely on behalf of his people; he writhed under the weight of a message they would never receive. When was he finally convinced that his self-denial was worth it?
Can you imagine Jeremiah crossing the finish line of faith? One moment he’s being stoned by his neighbors and then next he’s being welcomed into his forever home by the family of God. Excruciating pain eclipsed by extraordinary light and suddenly he was being celebrated as a good and faithful servant. He was finally folded into the arms of an authentic community that will treasure him for all eternity.
What surely felt like utter failure on earth is applauded in heaven.
Jeremiah lived out his purpose right up to the end; even when his purpose was uncomfortable, isolating and harmful to his heath. I am convinced, Jeremiah’s eternity with Jesus (only just now underway) made up for anything he missed in his time on earth. As David Crowder croons: “Heaven will make amends for it all.” Likewise, scripture tells us, our troubles here are light and momentary when compared to eternal glory. The prophet Jeremiah now knows in full what we only understand in part: eternity is worth whatever suffering we may endure for the expansion of the gospel here on earth.
Are you lonely? Rejected because of your faith? Disappointed that your life looks a bit different than the American Dream? Has your ‘yes’ to God caused you to live set apart from your friends and family? Remember Jeremiah. His ‘yes’ was incredibly expensive, but in the end it achieved an eternal glory. If we could talk to him today, he is lamenting no more. His tears have dried up and been replaced by wide smiles. Heaven has made up for his losses. Our ‘yes’ to Jesus will surely produce similar results in the millennia yet to come.
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV)
Lord, we still struggle with short-sight and big feelings. Help us be obedient anyway. We want to honor You with our ‘yes’. We want to live out Your word even when it’s unpopular and uncomfortable. Even when it costs us greatly. Please keep reminding us about the size and scope of eternity. A little discomfort today is well-worth the weight of glory. Amen.