I am amazed at the timeliness of some of these chapters and how it speaks to my day. God really knows the details of my life and at what particular moment I will go through a particular situation and to provide the right encouragement at the right time. Today, I had my two-week follow-up for the dermatologist. Two weeks ago they took some skin cells to test what I might have. All this was because of my new primary care doctor who said he wanted me to see a dermatologist to diagnosis the condition on my hand. About eight years my then primary care doctor said it was exema. He did not do any tests, just looked at it and said it is exema. Being a young college kid that did not question things I believed from that point that I have exema. Fast forward to this year and this new doctor wants me to get my skin tested from a skin specialist. Now. this specialist has his office half an hour from our house. With the consultation visit, the test, and now this follow-up, it has been three visits. So, what did the test show? Exema. The sad thing is the specialist said at the first visit that it is not exema. I feel like I wasted a whole lot of time and money on seeing a specialist I didn't need to see. Life is often full of regrets and disappointments. Right now, I wonder it was the right thing to do to have gotten a MSW. It has not proven useful in the ten weeks that I've been back.
Wiersbe always sticks to the Bible when he offers us some encouragement. This is true to for this chapter. He introduces us to another Bible character.
"I want to introduce you to a man who faced lifelong disappointment and yet triumphed over it all. If ever a man experienced disappointments and personal tragedy; it was Jeremiah. He was called to serve God at a difficult time in history,. And he was given a difficult message to proclaim, for God told him to warn the nation that judgment was coming and they had better repent. Jeremiah served the Lord faithfully for over forty years. He never compromised in his message or his loyalty. His family turned against him, and ultimately the entire nation turned against him. He lived to see his beloved nation overrun by the enemy, and his beloved city and temple completely destroyed." (pp. 49-50).
Can you picture Jeremiah’s ministry? Forty years of faithful and loyal service to the Lord. Now, we know men and women in ministry for over thirty years and I imagine they too face challenges. But, picture Jeremiah, preaching to your people for forty years about God's justice, mercy and judgment and having the people not take your message seriously. Then, seeing your beloved nation face that judgment. Jeremiah's reflections are captured in the book following his prophesies, Lamentations. He is known today as the weeping Prophet, and understandably so. Wiersbe points us to one particular verse in Jeremiah that captures how Jeremiah faced disappointments.
"I could point you to many statements in Jeremiah's prophecy that indicate his courage and faith, but just one of them will meet the need in this message. It is found in Jeremiah 10:19: "Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, truly this is a grief, and I must bear it." That statement is, to me, one of the greatest declarations of faith and faithfulness found anywhere in the Bible. Let's learn from the prophet Jeremiah how to face and conquer the disappointments of life." (p. 50).
Wiersbe goes on to say the first truth we learn is to expect disappointments. "My hurt, my wound is grievous." Life is not disappointment free. There many setbacks we have faced and will face. God does not say that our heart will not be broken or our tears will never fall when we place our trust in Him. Wiersbe then says that Jeremiah teaches us that our grief’s are in the hands of God. He continued to trust God even though his message to the nation was not accepted. God was there whether or not Jeremiah could see or feel His presence. Wiersbe is right in the next observation. Satan temps us with the lie that God has abandoned us. We feel like God has failed.
""Listen to Jeremiah's declaration of faith as he faces the painful disappointments of life: "Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it." He did not blame God or other people; he did not try to "pass the buck"; he did not fight circumstances and try to change God's mind. He accepted by faith the burden of his grief, and he trusted God to work out His perfect will. There is a basic law in this universe that says, "Fight the will of God and it will break you; accept the will of God and it will make you." Which will you do?" (p. 52)
I like this particular saying. Accept the will of God and it will make you. Resist it, and it will break you. We can think of examples like Jonah who ran away from the ministry God called him to and it caused much difficulty not only for him but the people in his life. God has a purpose in our difficulty. It is important to accept His will for our lives. The third truth Were says is to yield to God's will. Jeremiah does this. This is a grief. I must bear it. What words of faith and confidence in God. I don't think many times this is my approach. It is difficult to say that we will accept this and take this challenge on. Yet, in our hardship, God accomplishes a purpose.
What did God accomplish in this tragic history? For one thing, God made a man who was very., much like the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus was here on earth, He asked His disciples what people were saying about Him; and one of the answers was, "You are the prophet Jeremiah." What a tremendous compliment, to be compared to the Lord Jesus Christ! When you read Jeremiah's life, you can find many parallels between him and the Savior-and the thing that made that way was his suffering. The very., disappointments of life were the tools that carved Jeremiah and polished him and made him like Jesus Christ.
Isn't that what disappointments are all about? God is working all things together for good, and part of that good (according to Romans 8:29) is that we might be conformed to the image of His Son--made more like the Lord Jesus Christ. The four men in the Old Testament who best picture Jesus Christ are men who suffered Joseph, Moses, David, and Jeremiah. So, if you and I suffer, it is because God wants to polish us and make us like His own Son.
God builds character in the disappointments of life and He also gives a witness. In the midst of his disappointments, Jeremiah bore witness to the Lord and gave His message to the people. By his preaching and his living, Jeremiah pointed others to God.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the example of Jeremiah. Few of us can imagine the hardship he endured through forty years of faithful ministry to You. I cannot picture preaching to a congregation for forty years and each Sunday know that the people would resist Your message. Where does one find the strength to face that kind of ministry. Jeremiah knew that disappointments and grief’s are a part of life, he trusted You with them and accepted Your will.. What a witness of faith and trust in You. You've placed each of us in particular places that we might be a shining witness of Your work and love. Perhaps, we face the difficulties we have right now to be in a better place to communicate Your love and truth.
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