When Obedience Brings Pressure

By Dean Collins

James and Proverbs gave a similar message on boasting about what happens next because we simply do not know what will happen tomorrow or even in the next hour. James adds that our life is a mist, and with the little time we have on this earth, our focus is to be on doing the Lord’s will, which he insists is the right thing to do. 

Our daily lives, however, do require some basic structure and planning. No business or organization can just have employees and volunteers show up to work without having any idea what they will be working on that day. And it would be hard to run a family without some organization. After all, bills need paid, food needs prepared, dental and doctor’s appointments are not spontaneous unless there is an emergency.

Sometimes we forget that some things God has indicated will be a part of our discipleship, though we don’t always know what day or season they will come to us. When God calls us to himself, and then to various assignments in life and work, his word prepares us for what we should expect. Unfortunately, we tend to focus on the benefits of our calling and forget that Jesus told us there would be trouble, seasons of suffering, and even persecution.

Back in Jeremiah 20, we see a “Job-like” story in one chapter. The chief officer in the house of the Lord was a priest named Pashhur. Pashhur was so upset at the words that Jeremiah had spoken that he beat the prophet and put him in stocks. Remember, Jeremiah was prophesying exactly what God had told him to say. The religious and political figures of Judah did not like the message that was contrary to their lifestyles and suggested that Jerusalem would fall and that they would have to submit to Babylon. After a day in jail, Pashhur released Jeremiah, but the prophet did not back down even a little bit with his prophetic word.

Jeremiah’s suffering was off-and-on, and often sudden and extreme, as is the case in this chapter. In chapter one, Jeremiah heard directly from God that his hearers would fight against him. Those were only words, then but in chapter 20 he felt the sting of those words. God had instructed his prophet to “dress for work,” indicating that tough moments were coming. 

In the next section of chapter 20, we find Jeremiah complaining to God about the harshness of his treatment, suggesting that God had tricked him or not been completely honest. The holiness of God does not allow that God would ever be deceptive with us. He is often quite clear, but we often hear the good and miss the warnings of difficulty that come with our assignments. 

Lord, you have deceived me.

Lord, you are stronger than me.

I have been a laughingstock.

Everyone mocks me.

But Jeremiah felt the inner burn of one who is called into kingdom service and declared his allegiance to God and to his mission:

“But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.”

Jeremiah declared his confidence that the Lord would prevail and that vengeance belonged to God. And then, in the midst of all Jeremiah’s complaint and through his lament, the prophet broke into worship: “Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.”

Sometimes when we spend time in worship, we become lost in the presence of Almighty God. And we can and often do feel the lingering effects of our time with the Lord. But sometimes, and for Jeremiah, there was no lingering mountain top experience. The prophet instantly crashed after his moment of praise:

“Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed! Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, “A son is born to you,” making him very glad. Let that man be like the cities that the Lord overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon, because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great. Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?”

We know this pain from the story of Job. Some of us know this pain from great tragedy we have experienced. Our temptation will be to feel like a failure and believe that God is not with us, may not even love us. This roller coaster of emotions and uncertainty are about kingdom service. But when we hold on, even when we think we have lost every bit of our grip, we will discover that the arm of the Lord is long enough and strong enough to hold us and to pull us through.

The words of Isaiah:

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”

Isaiah 43:2

The words of David: 

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Psalm 23:4

Our obedience does bring pressure. But the promises of Jesus are rock solid:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:10-12

Father, may we learn from Jeremiah, David, Paul, and even our Lord Jesus that you are faithful. That you see our suffering. That you will never abandon or forsake us. Fill us with your Holy Spirit to guide us through our darkest days so that we might always reveal the light of Christ even through our suffering. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
Proverbs 27:1; James 4:13-17; Jeremiah 1:17-19, 20:1-18 ESV

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