Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame? – Jeremiah 20:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 20, 2020): Jeremiah 20

“Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it. And right is right, even if you are the only one doing it” (Unknown). No doubt doing the right thing is hard. Doing what is right has never been decided by public opinion. So, often it seems that most people simply choose an easier path, and it is usually not the right one. And we have all experienced moments in our lives when we wonder if doing what is right really makes a difference. And the temptation in these moments is just to give up and follow the actions of the majority; in these moments, we find it comfortable to take the easy path. After all, what difference does it really make?

And during hard times, we sometimes wish that we had never been born, or maybe that we had been born during a different era in our history. The pressure becomes too much. We become convinced that there is no way that what we do can in any way shape the direction of human history. And we reminisce about what it used to be like, nostalgically dreaming of a past that likely never existed.

Jeremiah finds himself in this position. He has tried to do what is right. And yet he is also being persecuted for his actions. It all seems to be too much for one person to handle. Maybe he lamented to himself, asking why he couldn’t have lived during the days of Isaiah when things were much simpler (and yet, I doubt that Isaiah would have agreed with that sentiment.) It all seems too much for just one man.

Jeremiah’s comment here maybe reminds us of Elijah’s wish following his devasting victory on Mount Carmel. At that moment, Elijah’s prayer was that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors” (1 Kings 19:4b). And maybe it is good for us to remember that this is more of a common reaction to life than we sometimes want to believe.

But, while Jeremiah questions why he was born, and wonders if maybe all of the anguish that he was suffering would simply go away if he had never existed, God makes a different evaluation of the moment. “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” (Jeremiah 1:5). Philip Ryken rightly comments that “Jeremiah traced his troubles back to the womb. But he did not go back far enough! God could trace his promises back before the womb.”

And sometimes, we need to be reminded that we are not all that different. God has set us in place for such a time as this. The things we see are the things God has hoped we would be able to confront, and he has placed inside of all of us the ability to do what is right at this moment, even in the face of those who oppose us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 46