Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
You'd think that if a person knew, even before he was born, that he was called of God to be a prophet, such a high honor would give him a healthy sense of self-respect. The Lord told that to Jeremiah (1:5), but here he is so down in the dumps that he wishes he could die (9:1, 2; 20:14-18). Of all the Lord's prophets, he is the most open in telling us of his inner battles with self, and of the disappointments in his relation with the Lord.
Elijah also wished he could die (1 Kings 19:4), but the Lord gave him the very high honor of being translated, and not dying. Isaiah went through an experience of deep humbling of his heart before God (Isa. 6:5), but the Lord gave him the joy of ministry to a king who appreciated him (37:1, 2, etc.).
But Jeremiah! He suffered nothing but rejection and disappointment for his entire lifetime, and even after the remnant of people who were left alive after the ruin of the kingdom saw the unmistakable evidence that he had been right all along in his ministry, they treated him like dirt (43:2-6ff.). His story comes to an end in tragedy. After he was dead, his people changed their mind about him, and they rated him the greatest of the prophets, even thinking that Jesus Christ might be Jeremiah resurrected (Matt. 16:14).
One experience in his life is of special encouragement to all of us who are "students in the school of Christ." Jeremiah prays in 10:23-24: "O Lord, correct me, but with justice; not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing." Do you believe the gracious, kind Lord answered that prayer? Yes! Did He bring the poor servant of His "to nothing"? No! Jeremiah tells us how the Lord kindly rebuked him, corrected him, disciplined him as a "student" in His school (15:15-21), and made a great man out of him. You are a student, too. Don't quit "school"!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 28, 2004.
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