Friday June 22, 2012

No service for Christ is insignificant.

 

Read Jeremiah 20:7-13

 

Jeremiah has been called “the weeping prophet”.  He may have had a sensitive and melancholic disposition that was compounded by his heart-break over God’s judgment on disobedient Israel.  His capacity for sorrow is amazing” “Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night!” (Jeremiah 9:1)

 

As if sorrow for his nation were not enough, Jeremiah was persecuted for his prophetic message of judgment.  In one instance, Jeremiah was imprisoned in a cistern filled with mire (Jeremiah 38:6).  Opposition to his ministry had gotten the great prophet stuck in a place if despair.

 

Sometimes in our attempts to serve the Lord, we can feel stuck in painful circumstances and surprising heartache.  But the prophet’s resilience should inspire us to persevere.  Jeremiah’s sense of divine call was so strong that he could not be deterred from serving the Lord.  “But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not” (Jeremiah 20:9)

Have the results of your service for the Lord been disappointing?  Ask Him to renew your heart by His Spirit, and continue to serve God despite your setbacks.

 

Prayer:

¥ Ask God to lift up the countenance of our missionaries as needed. Pray that each one would be shown the eternal value of their work and that they would be ready and keen to continue serving. Pray that they would be blessed by being able to see the fruit of their labours.

¥ Pray that teach person in your congregation would have the same blessedness and ministry-mindedness.