“Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” (Jer. 20:9)
I am compelled to do that which receives very little recognition, I speak with those who offer few replies, my words, as it were, go unheard and unheeded, I see no profit in what I have been called to do, and so I am going to stop doing it.
Every prophet of God in the Old Testament, every apostle in the New, every pastor called by the Almighty, those who have written books, stood on street corners, wrote letters, have said these words, and meant them. And then they heard, before it was even written down for us, and in their own way, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Gal. 6:9)
Everyone in heaven is going to stand beside the Lord Jesus Christ while He points to at least one, and probably more, and hear Him say, “Because you were faithful, these are here.” They heard, and it may not have been in your presence, but they responded, and then they also went out into the world, to others, preaching the words of life, full of love and zeal, at times also growing weary, even saying those same words of “No more, no one is listening,” and then continuing in the work.
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
Here is the mark, the proof if you will, of one who has truly been born-again, those words they have hidden in their heart cannot remain there, they burn within their bones and must be released, must be spoken, must be freely given as freely as they were received.
The joy we receive is not only in watching as those very few accept them as truth, for there are so very few that do, there is elation beyond compare in that moment, for we have been blessed to actually witness the Holy Spirit enter into that person. The joy my friends is in the knowledge that we have been blessed, been chosen, been trusted with the oracles of God, messengers with the only message that matters in this life.
An unspeakable burden and an unspeakable privilege.
If you are being conformed into the image of the Son of God, then in this respect, you fully understand Isaiah 53:3. “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” because those times that any will listen and heed the call are so rare, and you know that if they do not repent, all they believe about eternity will be revealed as a lie after they die.
And so, the untold numbers that we speak to that will not heed the call, who politely refuse, who mock us, who will not hear begin to cause frustrations within us, and we may not only grow weary in the work, but see little purpose in continuing to attempt to reach out to those we meet with the truths of the Word of God.
How long those days last will prove to you who it is you serve.
Jeremiah knew that burning and the frustrations that come with it, watching as all in his nation would not listen and were taken into captivity, or died because they would not heed the call. If you know this burning in your bones, then you know the truth of the words penned here, as well as the frustrations, weariness, and then continuing after those days have passed.
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” (2nd Tim. 4:2)
Those out of season times we struggle with, when months, sometimes even years pass by and not one seems to hear. But behind the scenes the Almighty is working, not one word of His that you have offered will return to Him void.
“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” (Matt. 10:16)
Cast the frustrations behind you, let that fire burn within you, for His glory.
