Jeremiah was called and set apart by God even before he was born to be a prophet to the nations. It’s not easy being a proclaimer of God’s truth in a world hostile to God. How would you like the be the bearer of bad news to a kingdom that had set itself against God and His ways?
It would be discouraging and overwhelming if Jeremiah didn’t believe that God was sovereign over all things. God had told Jeremiah, “I am watching over My word to perform it.” In other words, whatever God says He will do. It will come to fruition. There is never a time when God says, “Well, that didn’t go as I planned.”
When you think about all that God told Jeremiah to tell a disobedient and obstinate people, it’s no wonder that God began with a promise that He would do what He said He would do. Jeremiah wasn’t going to be liked for what he would say. He would be despised, rejected, and fought against. That’s why God gave Him a second promise: “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”
They will fight against you, but they won’t win because I will rescue you. I will make sure that what I say comes true.
That truth isn’t just for Jeremiah, that’s for us as well. Everyday we face an enemy who fights against us, one who is not clothed in flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12). But God’s promise is that we prevail because He has prevailed. We don’t fight for victory, we fight from victory. The enemy, however, tries to convince us otherwise. To often we tend to live defeated lives when God has declared that, in Christ, we have won. His Word is our reminder and strong promise. His Spirit in us is actively at work to perform His word in us.
So today, as you face an enemy who assaults you with thoughts that are not of God, take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and rest in His grace that reminds you that God is for you and will deliver you. When you stumble, remember that you don’t have to live in defeat but that God has prevailed and that as you confess to Him your sin you can rest in His forgiveness.
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