Day 57: Jeremiah 33:23-Jeremiah 47:7 - 90 Day Challenge

Jeremiah was a Regular Guy

Seriously. Just Google Image Search a picture of Jeremiah. They all look stressed out of their mind! And who can blame him?! Jeremiah was an ordinary guy on an extraordinary mission from God--to save God's people. That's right--all of them. In yesterday's reading, we read about how the people wanted to kill Jeremiah, just because he was saying things they didn't want to hear. And in today's reading, they sent him to prison for a "long time" (Jeremiah 37:16). 

Anyone would be stressed out by that. But God is with Jeremiah through it all. In Jeremiah 39:18, the Lord comes to Jeremiah, while he's confined by the guard, and tells him: "I will save you; you will not fall by the sword buy will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the Lord." Trust in the Lord, and He will carry you through the storm, through the trials we face. Has anyone heard that poem "Footprints"? I'll link it here. Surely, God is carrying Jeremiah through the sand right now, through his persecution, through his imprisonment, and all the way through his release, his freedom. 

But does Jeremiah's situation sound familiar to anyone else? Persecution for beliefs and talking about God? History does have a way of repeating itself. How often do we hear stories of people being bullied at school or work for praying before a meal? Or being called "crazy" for inviting others to worship in the Lord? Or asking to pray for someone being reciprocated with violence? Jeremiah's story is not a new one, it's one many of us may have experienced ourselves. 

I'd also like to point out something that is said in Jeremiah 42:10. Jeremiah is repeating the Lord's words to the people, and He says that He will build His people up, and not tear them down. Why? "for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted upon you." No parent wants to punish their child. They don't want to make them sad. However, punishment is necessary to make a disciplined child, or in this case, a disciplined nation. The Lord also says that He will save His people and show compassion to them just a few verses later. 

But of course, the people don't listen! They go to Egypt, even though God asked them to stay where they were. And we're back to the apparent theme of today: "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it!" God's people begin worshiping Egypt's gods, and He condemns them to famine and plague. Yikes. Why haven't they figured this out yet?!

The reading for today ends with God predicting disaster for Egypt and the Philistines. 


Tomorrow's reading: Jeremiah 48:1-Lamentations 1:22
Have a wonderful day!
Jill Jafarace
Director of Student Ministries
New Leaf UMC

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