Jeremiah's Heart

Jeremiah's Heart

   Tonight I heard a person on a TV show speak about the passage from Jeremiah where he speaks of wanting to not speak about God because he is laughed at but God burns within his heart and he can not hold back. When he tries he grows weary and can not do it. I had to look up the whole passage and I have copied it below for you to read as well. Then I read the passage and realized there are times I can say that my heart is on fire for God and other times it is more like ambers just holding on. 

     I can identify to a point with Jeremiah when he speaks about how God “seduced me” and God was too strong for him to dismiss that seduction. Today we use the term of seduction more in a sexual context then as in Jeremiah’s case of seduction meaning to attract or win over. God won over Jeremiah’s heart even though he put up a fight. God did the same for me as I bet many of us. The world can also win over our hearts and that is when we focus more of the world then of God. 

    Jeremiah is mocked and laughed at because he speaks of God. In Jeremiah 20:10 we read “ All those who were my friends are on the watch for any miss step of mine”. Those who he considers friends and are close to him are waiting like a lion to pounce on any mistake or sin that he may commit. They are trying to condemn him so they may feel justified in their actions. It is like that saying “ Oh how the mighty have fallen”. People wait for situations or even create them so they can see that person who speaks of their faith or sins to fall and sin themselves. We all sin. When we seek to see a person sin and hold it over them and mock them, we do the work not of God but that of Satan. God builds up, while Satan seeks to destroy. 

     Jeremiah says that the Lord is with him and those who persecute him will not prevail. He will not give up and he will continue on with what he feels is right and just. How many of us do that? Do we continue on speaking of the faith or living the faith as we are mocked? Maybe we are not mocked because we do not speak up? For the most part I think I have expressed and took a stand for my Catholic Faith and for God. I may have held back at time to avoid conflict, I must admit. After holding back I have felt inside that I did not do what was best. We have to see that at times as we are being questioned or mock by someone, that there just may be someone else there that needs to see and hear the faith being defended. We may be that persons only Voice of Faith in their life. We missed that chance. I feel strongly that we are in a time where our Faith is being watched and to take a stand will help increase the faith in those who are seeking something in the world. 

      The title of the passage is “ Jeremiah’s interior crisis” and I will bet 99% of us can say we have experienced an internal crisis or struggle at some point in our faith journey. It may have only lasted a short time or even years. Know that we are here together united in Christ as the body of the church to help in prayer and in action together. Reach out to those around you who share the faith and can give strength. There are issues in the world today that question the teachings of Christ, Bible, and the Church. Sometimes you will be that one in a crowd that stands for each of those areas of faith. 

         I am glad that this passage came across to me tonight. Sometime we need to hear  about those who have gone before us and what they went through. It makes us and the faith stronger. 

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and allow Jeremiah’s crisis to bring strength to all our lives of faith. 

JEREMIAH’S INTERIOR CRISIS (Jeremiah 20: 7-11)

You seduced me, LORD, and I let myself be seduced;

you were too strong for me, and you prevailed.

All day long I am an object of laughter;

everyone mocks me.

Whenever I speak, I must cry out,

violence and outrage I proclaim;

The word of the LORD has brought me

reproach and derision all day long.

I say I will not mention him,

I will no longer speak in his name.

But then it is as if fire is burning in my heart,

imprisoned in my bones;

I grow weary holding back,

I cannot!

Yes, I hear the whisperings of many:

“Terror on every side!

Denounce! let us denounce him!”

All those who were my friends

are on the watch for any misstep of mine.

“Perhaps he can be tricked; then we will prevail,

and take our revenge on him.”

But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:

my persecutors will stumble, they will not prevail.

In their failure they will be put to utter shame,

to lasting, unforgettable confusion.