This world is full of sin and trials. We see sin running rampant because of people not caring to follow God and trials that happen because of the presence of sin in the world, and it can be overwhelming for Christians to watch. What do we do about all these overwhelming feelings? How do we or should we react? The Bible gives us many examples of people who saw the sin and trials like the weeping prophet, Jeremiah.
There are a wide range of emotions we might feel when facing trials and many ways we might react. We may feel angry, depressed, lonely, hopeful, trusting, thankful, etc. Whatever we feel about the terrible nature of sin and the struggle of going through trials, Jeremiah felt all of it too. Throughout the book of Jeremiah, in addition to the prophecies he gave from God, we read his prayers to God that are full of positive and negative emotion. What do we do or where do we go with these emotions? Do we rant to anyone who will listen or bottle them up and never deal with them? Or do we want to take our own vengeance and handle it all ourselves? Or do we go to God, praying to him and laying out all our feelings before him?
As I mentioned before, Jeremiah took his feelings to God in prayer. Jeremiah prayed that God would punish sinful people, take vengeance, and give justice (Jeremiah 10:25; 12:1-4; 15:15; 17:18; 18:19-23; 20:11-12). This might be uncomfortable for us to ask of God, but sin must be punished, unless there is repentance, and we want God’s will to be done. However, we should never take it on ourselves to punish sin. Jeremiah felt anger, he sometimes complained, pled to God, and felt sadness (12:1-4; 15:18: 20:18). Is it wrong to feel anger or sadness at sin or trials? Not necessarily, but we need to take those emotions to God and we must be careful about complaining. There were times that Jeremiah felt abandoned by God and like following God was only causing Jeremiah harm (15:17-18; 20:7-8,14-18). In our darkest moments, it’s difficult to not feel this way, so we must remember, as Jeremiah ultimately did, that God is always with us. Jeremiah didn’t always understand why Judah abandoned God or why God acted in the ways he did (12:1), but he always came back to the fact that God was indeed working (11:18-20; 18:20; 20:13). This should be a comfort to us. We often don’t like not being in control, but we can rest assured that the one who is in control is the perfect one for the job. Jeremiah knew this, so he kept his hope in God (17:13-14; 20:13), and felt delight in God’s word and plan (15:16). Through all the ups and downs Jeremiah went through, he prayed for God to remember his service to him (15:15-18; 18:20).
When we read through these prayers of Jeremiah, consider God’s response to them (and that he always answers!). God gives, as he often does, promises and warnings. He warns of punishment for failing to follow him (15:1-9) but he promises deliverance and to use us for his good if we turn from sin and obey him. God pleads for us to be his children and he longs to bless us. We are always able to (and should) come to him in prayer when we have been in sin and when we are struggling through trials. May we learn from Jeremiah’s example and take our worries to the Lord in prayer.