2012 and 2013 saw some of the most challenging years in my walk with the Lord – relationships were tested … and shattered; at times I felt as if I was wandering through a dessert land where my spiritual walk with the Lord was concerned; and there was always a cry on my lips of ‘When Lord? When will the words spoken over our lives come to pass?’
It is therefore with great encouragement that I have receive the following exhortation for 2014. It comes from Jeremiah 12. In verses 1-4, Jeremiah cries out to the Lord, reminding Him of the wicked people and their deeds. He even goes as far as to tell the Lord what their punishment should be (perhaps in the same way that we sometimes think and speak about others?). He must have been in a place of desperation and completely worn out by those around him…
Jeremiah 12
New International Version (NIV)
Jeremiah’s Complaint
12 You are always righteous, Lord,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2 You have planted them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.
3 Yet you know me, Lord;
you see me and test my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!
4 How long will the land lie parched
and the grass in every field be withered?
Because those who live in it are wicked,
the animals and birds have perished.
Moreover, the people are saying,
“He will not see what happens to us.”
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2 You have planted them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.
3 Yet you know me, Lord;
you see me and test my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!
4 How long will the land lie parched
and the grass in every field be withered?
Because those who live in it are wicked,
the animals and birds have perished.
Moreover, the people are saying,
“He will not see what happens to us.”
The Lord’s reply however comes with correction, with exhortation and a glimpse of what is to come in verse 5 :
God’s Answer
5 “If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?
What is the Lord asking us at the beginning of 2014?
If you have but run with mere men on foot, and they have worn you out, how will you be able to compete with a much stronger enemy and win?
If you are weary from a battle against men on foot (perhaps the human relationships in our lives), how will you be able to battle against an enemy that is on horseback (perhaps against the principalities and forces of this Dark Age – Eph 6)?
If you are feeling worn out to the point of stumbling in a safe country, where there is no persecution or war, how will you manage when things get really difficult?
I feel the Lord is exhorting us :
To not give up,
To not grow weary,
To know who we are fighting against,
To guard our hearts and continue serving,
To be ready in all seasons for battle against any type of enemy.
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