Jeremiah 15:11 – Faith's Toddling Tutors
The Lord said:
“Surely it will be well with your remnant;
Surely I will cause the enemy to intercede with you
In the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.
Spurgeon in Morning and Evening describes the stretching of our faith in waiting. "We are waiting till we shall put on our proper garments, and shall be manifested as the children of God. We are young nobles, and have not yet worn our coronets."
That we haven't yet experienced the full glorification of which Spurgeon speaks, there is grace still get our present position among an expectant company. In Jeremiah 15:11, God paints this position as consolation to his pressed prophet. Jeremiah is feeling extremely lonely, and he has demonstrated the faith to take this to the Lord. Everywhere he turns, he says in Jeremiah 15:10, he experiences rupture because he speaks for the Lord rather than the human fellowship his soul craves. In such a state, he might have brought up God's Genesis precedent toward Adam that it is not good for man to be alone.
Instead, for a moment, he is completely vulnerable before the Lord, admitting that he needs to be parented by Father God in a way that not even his human mother can provide. The start, the energy, the sense of worth she provided is not slick morning and evening sufficient to get him through this hour of trial. He has faced opposition in one too many places, and he is out of gas. He needs God's authority to tell him who he is and why he walks the Earth – even when he does so alone.
Just as quickly, though, his prayer sprouts what Spurgeon, again in Morning and Evening, calls the tail feathers of pride. He feels that very human need to justify his request, to explain his worth above his fellow men. He does so, ironically, in terms of the justice of his dealings with them. Grant me consolation in You, Lord, that which humans can't give me, he seems to say, because I have dealt better with these rascals than they deserve.
Were I the Divine Game Show Host, I would lather on the affected pity. Oh, Jeremiah, you were so close. You were just about to experience the unmerited favor of God. For a minute there, you figured out and expressed who you were, and Who He is. Then you blew it. You polluted the right heart of your request with a man-centered coda.
Note how different, though, is God's actual response in Jeremiah 15:11. God doesn't scold Jeremiah, or us, for still seeing a good deal as humans see. He walks with us through that. He tutors us in the ways of faith, and very often He uses people to do that. Much as with Elijah, rather than denying His prophet's sense of feeling forsaken, He meets that need by expressing His undiminished regard through chosen human community. Elijah was reminded there were still other prophets. He got somebody to mentor in Elisha, and validation of his ministry even before human kings.
Jeremiah, in turn, is reminded that he is part of a human remnant God is faithful to protect. As with Elijah, He reminds His man that not everybody in God's erstwhile country has bowed the knee to the idols of the day. Then, as if this weren't enough mercy and grace where proof might have been deserved, God widens Jeremiah's shrunken sense of community. Not only have I gotten a remnant of faithful people among whom I count you, Jeremiah, God says, but I will even use your country's enemies as instruments of My will.
Like these, we wait among the untransformed. When we feel frustrated or forsaken, we want to see the coronets that prove we are counted among a host of the royalty of the coming age. Without that, we are certain we are alone, and in effect we tell God that His company and consolation is not enough. Rather than cast us off, so often He shows us aspects of His nature and His care for us through humans who are likewise toggling between faith and fear in the maturation process over which He is still sovereign. Look about, brothers and sisters. You are not alone.
“Surely it will be well with your remnant;
Surely I will cause the enemy to intercede with you
In the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.
Spurgeon in Morning and Evening describes the stretching of our faith in waiting. "We are waiting till we shall put on our proper garments, and shall be manifested as the children of God. We are young nobles, and have not yet worn our coronets."
That we haven't yet experienced the full glorification of which Spurgeon speaks, there is grace still get our present position among an expectant company. In Jeremiah 15:11, God paints this position as consolation to his pressed prophet. Jeremiah is feeling extremely lonely, and he has demonstrated the faith to take this to the Lord. Everywhere he turns, he says in Jeremiah 15:10, he experiences rupture because he speaks for the Lord rather than the human fellowship his soul craves. In such a state, he might have brought up God's Genesis precedent toward Adam that it is not good for man to be alone.
Instead, for a moment, he is completely vulnerable before the Lord, admitting that he needs to be parented by Father God in a way that not even his human mother can provide. The start, the energy, the sense of worth she provided is not slick morning and evening sufficient to get him through this hour of trial. He has faced opposition in one too many places, and he is out of gas. He needs God's authority to tell him who he is and why he walks the Earth – even when he does so alone.
Just as quickly, though, his prayer sprouts what Spurgeon, again in Morning and Evening, calls the tail feathers of pride. He feels that very human need to justify his request, to explain his worth above his fellow men. He does so, ironically, in terms of the justice of his dealings with them. Grant me consolation in You, Lord, that which humans can't give me, he seems to say, because I have dealt better with these rascals than they deserve.
Were I the Divine Game Show Host, I would lather on the affected pity. Oh, Jeremiah, you were so close. You were just about to experience the unmerited favor of God. For a minute there, you figured out and expressed who you were, and Who He is. Then you blew it. You polluted the right heart of your request with a man-centered coda.
Note how different, though, is God's actual response in Jeremiah 15:11. God doesn't scold Jeremiah, or us, for still seeing a good deal as humans see. He walks with us through that. He tutors us in the ways of faith, and very often He uses people to do that. Much as with Elijah, rather than denying His prophet's sense of feeling forsaken, He meets that need by expressing His undiminished regard through chosen human community. Elijah was reminded there were still other prophets. He got somebody to mentor in Elisha, and validation of his ministry even before human kings.
Jeremiah, in turn, is reminded that he is part of a human remnant God is faithful to protect. As with Elijah, He reminds His man that not everybody in God's erstwhile country has bowed the knee to the idols of the day. Then, as if this weren't enough mercy and grace where proof might have been deserved, God widens Jeremiah's shrunken sense of community. Not only have I gotten a remnant of faithful people among whom I count you, Jeremiah, God says, but I will even use your country's enemies as instruments of My will.
Like these, we wait among the untransformed. When we feel frustrated or forsaken, we want to see the coronets that prove we are counted among a host of the royalty of the coming age. Without that, we are certain we are alone, and in effect we tell God that His company and consolation is not enough. Rather than cast us off, so often He shows us aspects of His nature and His care for us through humans who are likewise toggling between faith and fear in the maturation process over which He is still sovereign. Look about, brothers and sisters. You are not alone.
Comments
Post a Comment