Gems for the Journey: Challenge, not Comfort
By Rev. Veronica Martin Thomas, (M.Div’07)
“If you have raced with foot-runners and they have wearied you, how
will you compete with horses? And if in safe land you fall down, how
will you fare in the thickets of the Jordan?” (Jeremiah 12:5 NRSV)
At this time in the life of Judah they entered a very evil period in the life of the nation, and the only light is this man Jeremiah. Josiah, the king after God’s own heart, has been slain. Josiah’s conversion to Yahweh at age sixteen was evidenced by the young king’s orders to purge Judah and Jerusalem of idolatry. With Josiah’s death, the nation quickly slipped back into idolatry.
Jeremiah has been forced to leave his hometown, and evil men had come to the throne. Conditions seem only to get worse, at this point Jeremiah, and I believe every honest Christian, had doubt come to his heart. Dark thoughts came into his mind, and he wonders why God permits certain things. Every pastor who has ever stood for the things of God, at times, wondered why God permitted this.
Jeremiah lived in a time of Judah’s abandonment of Jehovah the God of Israel. His society had abandoned the Lord and deeply resented Jeremiah for confronting their sins and affirming God’s standards. Jeremiah’s contemporaries not only rejected Jeremiah’s message, they ridiculed and hated the man. Jeremiah could not help being deeply hurt by all the antagonism focused on him.
Despite the hostility of those around him, Jeremiah faithfully proclaimed God’s word and warned of judgment for forty years. Without human companionship for most of this time, Jeremiah was forced to turn to the Lord. Jeremiah poured out his heart to God, expressing his anger, his sorrows, and his anguish. God encouraged Jeremiah, but did not let the prophet draw back from his painful ministry. Jeremiah was given a challenge by God, not comfort.
Jeremiah has been speaking in the first four verses, with the Lord now speaking in the remainder. Now comes the Lord’s gentle rebuke to the prophet. The “foot-runners” represent the men of Anathoth – the birthplace of Jeremiah, where his friends and neighbors were plotting to kill him because of his preaching against idolatry. The “horsemen”, symbolized the rulers of Jerusalem, whose hatred and blood-thirst would be far worse than the people of Anathoth, “The land of peace” in which he thought himself secure, was his own village. The “thickets of Jordan” represented the wild fury that he would have to face in the capital city.
Jeremiah reminds us that we too may be called to face opposition. When we are, we need to be as faithful in our ministry as Jeremiah was in his. Jeremiah challenges us to speak out against the evils in our day. We are likely to be labeled “intolerant” and our words may evoke hostile responses, but we are to be true to God, no matter whatever pressure others may bring to bear.
Jeremiah prods us to share our inner life with the Lord. God understands and cares, even when no one else seems willing to listen, God will not only listen, but he will encourage and support us in our labors. Jeremiah encourages us to look beyond the present time to envision a future in which God’s will is done. However dark the present may be, the future that God will bring is bright indeed.
Life was extremely difficult for Jeremiah despite his love for and obedience to God. When he called God for relief, God’s reply in effect was if you think this is bad, how are you going to cope when it gets really tough? Challenge, not comfort – not all of God’s answers to prayer are nice or easy to handle. Any Christian who has experienced war, bereavement, a serious illness, COVID-19, natural disasters, divorce, or abandonment (You get the point!). But are we to be committed to God even when the going gets tough and when his answers to our prayers don’t bring immediate relief? Yes, we are to trust God. The songwriter declares “I will trust in the Lord until I die.” Challenge, not comfort is the sign of God’s “divine purpose.” Let us respond to the Word of God.
Amen, so be it.
