Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget My words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Proverbs 4:5-6.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:3-4 NKJV.

I loved this from You Are the Beloved by Henri Nouwen: “Joy Joy does not come from positive predictions about the state of the world. It does not depend on the ups and downs of the circumstances of our lives. Joy is based on the spiritual knowledge that, while the world in which we live is shrouded in darkness, God has overcome the world. Jesus says it loudly and clearly: “In the world you will have troubles, but rejoice, I have overcome the world.” The surprise is not that, unexpectedly, things turn out better than expected. No, the real surprise is that God’s light is more real than all the darkness, that God’s truth is more powerful than all human lies, that God’s love is stronger than death. Here and Now.”

Reading our chapter, Jeremiah 20, can we begin to understand what it was like for a prophet of God, and in realizing that, can we give thanks for their faithfulness even in the unfaithfulness of those they were tasked to teach? When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the official in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the Lord’s temple. The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. For this is what the Lord says: “I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. I will deliver all the wealth of this city into the hands of their enemies – all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.” v. 1-7. And then, also recorded for us is Jeremiah’s hurt. You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; You overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, “I will not mention His word or speak anymore in His name,” His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in My bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!” All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.” v. 7-10. That reminds me of Jonah. But then, with these words of Jeremiah, like David and the psalmists, Jeremiah gives praise to God. How can he not? When we only look at the darkness people cling to, we despair. When we look to God, we give praise and thanks because He lights the way for us to see what is real! But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail…Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked. v. 11, 13. Imagine being Jeremiah. He hears truth from God. All around him are lies and those believing in lies. How can we gather truth from the lies of this world darkened from all the lies we have believed? It gets to him. Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother who bore me not be blessed!…Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame? v. 14, 18.

I feel for Jeremiah and I am grateful for his faithfulness to God in such extreme difficulty and that his words were recorded for us to read and learn and ponder. Wisdom is not handed to us. Long for it! Search diligently for it! And trust Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, from whom all blessings and all wisdom flows! And this, so important! Give thanks to God for the blessings of life itself, for ground to walk upon, for air to breathe, for loved ones, for the beauty He surrounds us with if only we have eyes to see and to Him give thanks! It’s when we begin to thank God for God, that our hearts are opened and we can begin to experience His love and His love changes us.