Have you ever experienced times when it feels like every eye is upon you, examining you, judging you? Do you ever get anxious that your public speaking or performance will be deficient in some way, and others will think badly of you? Are you reluctant to go to social events or to say yes to opportunities that fall outside your comfort zone? Experiencing such anxieties are understandable but holding on to them is detrimental. In the refuge of worry, our self-conversations can be full of doubt, self-condemnation, and even self-loathing which only compounds our struggle. This lesson shows us how applying the gospel of Jesus (His death for our sin, and resurrection from the dead) to our hearts rescues us from these anxieties.
“The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6 “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. 9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” 11 The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. 12 The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” 13 The word of the Lord came to me again: “What do you see?” “I see a pot that is boiling,” I answered. “It is tilting toward us from the north.” 15 I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the Lord. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem; they will come against all her surrounding walls and against all the towns of Judah. 16 I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made. 17 “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 1:4-19 NIV
In this Old Testament passage, we find the sweet comfort of our Heavenly Father speaking to us in the message He gave to a young and timid man named Jeremiah, who was facing giants of inner turmoil. As we explore this text, may our Sovereign God reach out His steadying hand, touch your face with His loving caress, and pour His words of strength into your soul (Jeremiah 1:9).
Jeremiah, the son of the priest Hilkiah, was a teenager faced with a task that had the proportions of a Goliath in his life (1 Samuel 17). God had given Jeremiah the ministry of a prophet (Jeremiah 1:10) to the neighboring nations who had forsaken Him for other gods. Jeremiah's message was to be one of God's judgment, and it would mean much suffering in his life (Jeremiah 15:10).
In this first chapter of Jeremiah, God asks this young man to 'see': "See, today…" (Jeremiah 1:10 NIV) and then he is twice asked: "What do you see?" (Jeremiah 1:10,13 NIV). According to Hebrew thinking, this is not referring to one's physical vision but spiritual sight and understanding in faith as revealed by God.
Jeremiah held a reverential and appropriate fear of God, which is "the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10), and addressed Him respectfully, knowing God was in control of his life. Nevertheless, Jeremiah responded from a quaking heart, listing his reasons why he felt unable to step forward into God's ministry for him:
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” …“LORD, I know that people's lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.” Jeremiah 1:6; 10:23 NIV
The very first word out of Jeremiah’s mouth was “Alas!” as he processed the shock of hearing God’s immense plans for his life. It was an exclamation of impending threat and danger, bathed in emotions of panic. For us, we might use words like:
“Oh no! Sadly, this is something I cannot do. It fills me with dismay, and it is totally beyond my capacities to cope with it. Lord, can’t You see that I can’t do this. I have not the wisdom of age to guide me. My hands are sweaty and shaking at the thought of this. My knees are knocking, and my heart is jumping out of my chest. You need a person who has a track record of accomplishments, not a person like me who is ‘less than’ what is required. I am not who you think I am. Look at me - I am too scared, too small, too ‘everything’! Please leave me where I am!”
Do these words have a ring of familiarity to you? “Alas, I am too…?” Perhaps situations come to mind, such as changing schools, homes, churches, or jobs or being called upon to meet an unexpected challenge, or being called by God to minister in a way or place that seems frightening.
When faced with threatening new circumstances, it can feel as if a spotlight of helplessness is being aimed only at us. All we can ‘see’ and perceive is a sense of aloneness; we might feel cut off without support even from God, and drained of faith and resources to meet the demands of the moment.
In times past, we may have responded to such difficulties by gritting our teeth and willing ourselves to move forward, hoping to snap the cords of anxiety holding us back. However, the danger of white-knuckling our way through is that we are left trying to lift ourselves by our inadequate human strength. We either become desperate to hit the 'center of the target' and perform flawlessly, living in constant fear of the negative consequences of failure (real or imagined) and worrying, "What will people say or think of me?" Or we retreat from the situation, blaming our deficiencies. Either way, our trembling heart condition remains unchanged. In both of these humanistic approaches, the only vision we "see" is that of the tall rocky mountain we must climb, with inner peace being only a mirage at the top of the ascent.
Sin is a loss or a failure to miss the mark of fulfilling one’s own desires by our self-empowered natures. As it says in James 1:14: “Each person is tempted when he is lured or enticed by his own desire”. The consequences of never being able to ‘make the grade’ are condemning guilt in our souls that grips us cruelly with its power. James goes on to say: “Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (James 2:10). There are clear consequences for our guilt and forsaking God:
“the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.” (Nahum 1:3 NIV)
“I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made.” Jeremiah 1:16
We are helpless and trapped in human flesh to overcome sin’s lawlessness (1 John 3:4), needing a divine solution.
So, what are our alternatives? What do we need to “see” to escape our anxieties and experience the relief that we need?
God gave Jeremiah a divine answer to his misery, by mercifully shifting Jeremiah’s eyes away from his anxious self-focused thinking to see new visions - one of an almond branch and the other of a boiling pot (Jeremiah 1:11,13). These images spoke powerfully to the heart of Jeremiah and assured him that God was for him and with him. They lifted Jeremiah out of his fear and anxiety and enabled him to move forward into the work God had given him to do because He was assured that God was sufficient to the task. God would be working in Jeremiah to do what needed doing.
Oh, friend, we too have been called to look away from our feelings of inadequacy and instead to see our salvation. Much as He did with Jeremiah, God has given a vision to fix our eyes, steady our minds and have our hearts strengthened in the sacred blood-soaked ground of Calvary where Jesus rescued us through His death on the cross. Here we are both assured that God is for us and that He will work in us to do what needs doing (Philippians 2:13).
Romans 8:31-32 states it this way, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
On the cross, we see that God did not spare His Son Jesus in any way.
Instead of the continual fellowship, He had always known, Jesus was driven into an abyss of abandonment by the fire of the wrath of His own Father: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; he has put Him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10 NKJV). He was expelled with the covering of the sin of the world from God’s presence. After hanging on the cross for three hours, Jesus was surrounded by thick spiritual and physical darkness, an unforgettable picture of utter weakness and abandonment (Mark 15:33).
In exile, Jesus no longer had any identification with man, God, or His good deeds on earth, and He gave up any means to save Himself. He was no longer “a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall” (Jeremiah 1:18) but a defenseless and butchered Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). He remained completely surrendered on the cross to the will of God, crying out in Aramaic “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” or “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
Friend, just as God reassured Jeremiah with visions of His presence and power, we too can be comforted in our time of need by looking to the cross of Christ. We need not fear or be anxious for the judgment of God or other people because through His death on the cross, Jesus has proved God’s love for us and secured God’s presence and His power for us. Even when we sin or fail as believers, there is only God’s love, forgiveness, and favor covering us.