My Vigorous Defense

Jeremiah 50:33b-34 All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go.  Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name.  He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land ...

Although these verses fall in a chapter of prophecies against the oppressors of the Israelites of the Old Testament, they rang a bell for me as I thought about people who fight against addiction. Addictions are like captors holding onto the one addicted, refusing to let them go.

These verses are comforting to me when I think about the power of habitss and weaknesses that I struggle against in my own life.  I do not have the addictions that some people struggle with, but I see how difficult it is to break certain habits in my life, and they are like captors holding onto me.  How much more a person addicted to drugs or alcohol or any other addiction must feel that same captivity holding onto them.

So, when I read that my Redeemer is strong and that He is standing up for me, I am comforted. It gives me hope knowing that I am not fighting my weaknesses or addictions alone.

Not only does He stand up for me, but He vigorously defends me!   

Vigorous ... strong, active, forceful. That is how God defends me when I want to fight a captor, a habit, an addiction. He is not standing off to the side just cheering me on. He is taking part in the fight.

The reason?  So that I can rest. A bad habit, a strong addiction, has the ability to keep me from having a fully satisfying life. It takes a lot of hard work to break that addiction, and it is a tiring job.

I do not have to fret and worry about my bad habits’ hold on me.  I have strong, active, forceful assistance from God Almighty. I can rest even as I do my part to break that habit, that addiction, because my Redeemer is vigorously defending me, and that I will eventually have victory over those habits.

God Almighty vigorously defends me so He can bring rest to my life.

 

My Bucket List

 

Jeremiah 45:5 Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not … I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.

I have a short bucket list. Mostly it has consisted of places I would like to visit and a couple of things I thought I'd like to do before the end of my life.

My bucket list included trips to Alaska, Hawaii coffee plantations, and Maine. It also included writing a book, which I was able to do a couple of years ago.

After a few failed attempts at the travel plans, I regretfully gave up on that, and I have continued to be sad about that. In fact, it has caused me dismay every time I think about it, and every time a friend makes such a trip I feel that regret for myself.

Which made what I read in Jeremiah this morning so meaningful to me.

Baruch had some of the same feelings I have had in my failed attempts at my bucket list:. sadness, discouragement, regret, even dismay at times.

Jeremiah chapter 45 is a message from God to Baruch, who was Jeremiah’s loyal and supportive secretary. They had been through a lot of turmoil, largely due to the unpopular messages Jeremiah was delivering to the people in those days. Through it all Baruch had stuck with Jeremiah, but I suspect that he was feeling very discouraged. 

After all, the messages from God that Baruch had recorded for Jeremiah represented a lot of energy and effort on Baruch’s part as the secretary. He had to write those long messages on a scroll that he probably had to make himself, with ink that he had to make, with a quill that he had to make.

He had to refill his quill every few letters. This was no ball point pen that he was using.

He was taking dictation.

It was a laborious job, but being a long-time, dedicated scribe, I suspect he was proud of his work, and for good reason.

Those labor-intensive messages had not only been ignored by the recipients, some had even been deliberately destroyed by the king (re: Jeremiah 36), and had to be re-written. 

Jeremiah had been imprisoned because of the messages that had been so well-recorded by Baruch.

Later, Baruch had to accompany Jeremiah as they were forced to move to Egypt despite God’s warning against doing so. 

To top it all off, Baruch was accused of inciting Jeremiah's messages against the leaders of the nation, setting Jeremiah against them. As though the employee (Baruch), the dictation-taker, could have such a strong influence over his employer (Jeremiah), the dictation-giver.

It is understandable that Baruch might be discouraged. I certainly would have been. All he was doing was trying to be the best scribe/secretary he could be.

God’s message under the circumstances is a powerful one:

Do not worry about whether you are succeeding in your efforts. Just keep on keeping on.               "Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not."

I am going to protect you and be with you. Stay faithful.                                                                         "I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go."

This puts a whole new perspective on my bucket list.

 

Faithfulness Under Duress

 

Jeremiah 37:15 The officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

 Jeremiah’s experience of being falsely accused of wrongdoing and severely punished unjustly is a sobering reminder that doing what is right, following God, does not make us immune from troubles or from persecution. As in Jeremiah’s case, however, it does not have to stop us from continuing in our faith journey.

Even after being freed from prison, Jeremiah's troubles did not end. The next chapter of Jeremiah's story tells us that "Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken." (Jeremiah 38:28).

What strikes me about the account of Jeremiah’s troubles is that very fact – he had lots of trials he had to suffer through. 

Jeremiah was a faithful, diligent prophet of God, willing to obey every command he received from God. We want to see him successful and rewarded for his diligence in obedience, but what he experienced was anything but success. 

He was punished by his own country’s leaders for truthfully prophesying the fall of the nation to the Babylonians, placed in a mud pit for punishment. 

Even after being brought out of that, he had to live through the siege of Jerusalem and all the trails that went along with it. He did not have an easy life even though he had obeyed and served God, but he did see God carry him through those trials. 

That is my reminder for myself. 

I will always have God with me, taking care of me, even if people do not like or agree with what God leads me to do or say.  It is up to me to remain faithful to Him no matter what happens.

I take heart in Jeremiah’s example of faithfulness under duress.