Jeremiah Did Not Quit

Do you ever get discouraged and feel like quitting? Many do. Young Jeremiah did. However, he did not let what others said or did to cause him to give up. Let us talk about what Jeremiah was: he was someone special to God. Yet he felt like quitting.

Before Jeremiah was born, the true God chose him to be a prophet to warn the people that they were not pleasing Him. Do you know what Jeremiah said? “I do not know how to speak for I am but a boy.” “But to all those to whom I shall send you, you should go. Do not be afraid. I am with you to deliver you” (Jer 1:4-8).

Still Jeremiah became discouraged later. This was because he was ridiculed for serving God. “Everyone laughs at me all day long, and makes fun of me” he said. So he decided to quit. “I am not going to make mention of God and shall speak no more in His name” he said. But did he really quit? “In my heart,” Jeremiah said, “the words of God were like a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I could not stop prophesying” (Jer 17:7-9).

Even though at times Jeremiah became afraid, his love for God would not let him quit. Let us see how Jeremiah was protected. God told Jeremiah that the people, the Israelites, would be destroyed if they did not change their bad ways. But the people became angry when they heard this message: “To this man, the judgement of death belongs.” However, Jeremiah pleaded with them to obey the voice of God. “You should know that if you put me to death, you are killing an innocent man, for God sent me to speak to you”

Do you know what happened? The princes and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, ‘There is no judgement of death belonging to this man, for it was in the name of God that he spoke to us.” In this way, God protected him.

Let us see what happened to another prophet, Urijah. Urijah kept prophesying against Jerusalem with the same words. But when king Jehoiakim became angry with Urijah, he became afraid, quit doing God’s will and fled to Egypt. So the king sent men to find him there and to bring him back. When they caught him and brought him back, they killed Urijah with a sword (Jer 26:8-24).

Do you see the difference? Even though Jeremiah was afraid, he did not give up serving God. He did not run away but continued to do what God had told him to do.

Can we learn the lesson and follow what Jeremiah did, and not do what Urijah did and run away?

Bro Kuvarega Mavuvo (Triangle, Zimbabwe)