The Power of Strong Convictions

Jeremiah was a "P. K."—a priest's kid who grew up in a suburb of Jerusalem. If he expected an uneventful career as a priest, though, he was in for quite a surprise. Sometime in his late teens or early twenties, Jeremiah heard God's call to be a prophet; and from then on, his life contained one hardship after another.

Bible students know Jeremiah as "the weeping prophet," and it's easy to see why. Unlike preachers who please the crowds by saying, "Something good is going to happen to you," Jeremiah told them just the opposite. Something bad was going to happen: the Babylonians were preparing to capture and deport the people of Judah. While other prophets pacified the people by crying, "Peace, peace," Jeremiah stood by the temple entrance and told worshipers to repent. He rebuked the king for building himself a fine house while ignoring the needs of his citizens. He wrote a book that the king seized, cut in pieces, and burned. Powerful people branded Jeremiah a liar, and accused him of committing treason against his country. He was beaten and fastened in stocks. Men from his hometown plotted to kill him.

Jeremiah communicated God's message through strange-looking object lessons. He buried a linen belt in the ground, then later dug it up, rotten and ruined, to show how sin had corrupted the people. He bought a jar from a potter, gathered some leaders together, and smashed the jar in their presence as a sign of God's coming judgment. One time he wrote a scroll and then told the king's staff officer to tie a stone to it and throw it into the river as a sign that Babylon would sink to rise no more.

No fancy pulpit for Jeremiah; he preached at the city dump. The Lord told him not to marry and have children, nor could he attend parties and other social events. His opponents threatened him with slavery and deportation, and lowered him into a muddy cistern. Faithful but exasperated, he preached for years with minimal results.

Why would anyone in his right mind put up with all of this? For one thing, Jeremiah cared deeply about others. When his people were crushed, he felt crushed. When they were wounded, he tearfully begged God to heal and save them (Jeremiah 8:20–9:1). Second, Jeremiah was convinced God had spoken. "The Lord Almighty says" (or a similar phrase) appears 157 times in the book of Jeremiah. God's truth brought him almost non-stop insult and reproach. Yet the prophet remarked, "If I say, 'I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot" (Jeremiah 20:8, 9). Most of all, Jeremiah persevered because he trusted in God's faithfulness. He wrote, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22, 23).

Some might consider Jeremiah's ministry a failure. But he loved God's people, believed God's Word, and trusted God's faithfulness. These convictions gave him the mental toughness to endure years of frustration while still seeing the bright side: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

Hopefully your life hasn't been as difficult as Jeremiah's. But when hard times come, it helps to have strong convictions grounded in the truth and love of God.