ESOCS Devotional 28 February 2024 – When Our Calling Hurts
MEMORY VERSE: “Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.”Jeremiah 15:10
TEXT: JEREMIAH 15:10-END
Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
11 The Lord said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
15 O Lord, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
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The prophet again complained to God because of the unjust treatment he suffered. He had done no harm to the people; and in fact, he had pleaded on their behalf for God’s mercy upon them; yet, they hated him. They were angered at his attacks on their sins and his forecasts of judgment. Their hearts were as hard as iron (10-12). God’s word was that the Judeans will be invaded, plundered and taken captive (13-14).
Knowing that God is understanding, Jeremiah asks that He will protect him from death and deal with his persecutors (15). He was glad to be God’s representative, to receive God’s message and pass it on to the people; but when they heard that message and knew that the prophet was angry with them because of their sins, they cut themselves off from him. Lonely and discouraged, Jeremiah felt that even God had failed him. He felt like a thirsty person who had come to a stream, only to find that the stream had dried up (16-18).
In response, God told Jeremiah that he must stop speaking idle words of self-pity, and speak useful words as a true servant of God should. He must not copy the people and their worthless attitudes; they must copy him. If they continue to oppose him, God will protect him (19-21).
Dearly beloved, several times we are like Jeremiah treated unjustly simply because we said the truth. They conspire, hate and accuse us daily, hence leaving us the option of loneliness and discouragement to continue the sincere task of the Kingdom of God. Brace up, for God can never leave you neither will He suffer His holy one to see corruption.
- Do not fear what men can do to you but trust God and remain firm in your belief in His promise that He is with always, even to the end of the world.
- Father, please protect me from the people of the world.
Further Reading: 1 Samuel 20:24-end; Jeremiah 15:10-; James 3:13-end
ESOCS Devotional 28 February 2024
