Doubt - Jeremiah (4)

Jeremiah has some doubts and...

He feels disappointed...

His work for God seemed to be a complete failure. (Jeremiah 7:25-28, 13:15-17) He would have been very happy if people had returned to the Lord. But this just isn't happening.

There is an important lesson for us here. When God gives us work to do for Him, we must be loyal and continue the work no mater what happens.

Being faithful and loyal to the task is more important than success.

When results become more important to us than doing a task correctly and sticking o it, we are in danger. Why is this dangerous?

We stop wanting to bring honor to God AND we start trying to prove our own worth instead.

Jeremiah felt bitter...

This often flows from our disappointment. God has not worked in the way that we hoped or planned. He hasn't done what we asked in the way they we wanted. This is what Jeremiah is feeling (Jeremiah 20:7-8).

Jeremiah felt sorry for himself...

This was the next thing that has gone wrong. The prophet was miserable. Nobody seemed to know or care about his feelings. He was very, very lonely. (Jeremiah 15:17-18, 16:2-9.) He suffered more stress than anyone realized. Perhaps this stress caused his character to become a little weaker.

This was a terrible time for the prophet. But he went back to have true faith in God. He realised that God could supply all his needs. His experience can help us.

We too have doubts. We might have a similar difficulties. There are things that we can do about it. The prophet’s experience shows important truths. We will now study these.
Like Jeremiah, we must:

Allow God to examine and show us all parts of our lives.

(Jeremiah 12:3; 15:19, 17:9-10) All Jeremiah’s thoughts were about the nation. He had no fear as he spoke about their lack of reality.

He forgot that he must be completely sincere in his own life.

The prophet was concentrating on the people’s ‘return’ to God. But God said to him:

‘If you return, then you can serve me’ (Jeremiah 15:4).

Jeremiah was full of pain and despair. God comes to him. He reminds the prophet about his job.

He must help people to change.

He must not change and become like the people (15:19b).

What God is trying to tell Jeremiah is that he needs to do the job he's been sent for. There is a real problem here that needs to be address, but there is also a risk. Just like in our own lives, he can be part of the solution or part of the problem. It would have been easy for Jeremiah to step back into a life of luxury and be content like the people, but that's not what he has been sent to do.

Having integrity, and always trying to live out your core values is not an easy life. But if they are your true values, that's the path you are compelled to stay on. If you are wishy-washy or inconsistent, people won't respect you, and they won't follow you.

But there's more we need to do...

What do you value most?

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