Pray:
Father, help me to come to You in honesty and then to listen so that I may hear what You have to say.
Read:
Jeremiah 12:1-17
Reflect:
What is Jeremiah's complaint?
Here is a man fearless before the God of heaven. Not many of us start our prayer times wishing we could take legal action against God, but Jeremiah is different. He frequently thinks the unthinkable.
Incensed by God's apparent preferential treatment of successful people, he accuses him of lacking justice. Is God as much a hypocrite as the people who are out to get him (2)? Nevertheless Jeremiah is bound to God in love (3) and must declare his word. It's not exactly a love/hate relationship, but it is honest. And it is matched in God's corresponding lament. After acknowledging that he has punished his people for deserting him (7), God nevertheless promises future compassion and restoration (15).
Spirituality for Jeremiah is about pursuing God, even when his ways are shrouded in mystery. Perhaps Jeremiah could have echoed Job's famous confession: "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face" (Job 13:15).
Apply:
Be honest with God about the things that perplex you. Then let him speak to you.
Pray:
Lord of all, though they do not always make sense to me, all Your ways are good. You are setting all things right.
