“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sancified thee, and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5
Jeremiah is slowly becoming near and dear to my heart. I see him in many areas of my own journey and life. God clearly called him and told Him that He had big plans for him. But as we continue to read in Jeremiah and onto Lamentations, He didn’t have success by mans standards.
The very details of our life are carefully and lovingly planned by our great God. He had a beautiful plan laid out for us before we were even born. He loves us with a great love.
If He has a beautiful plan laid out for our lives, why doesn’t it always feel or look beautiful? Why does it feel like a wreck sometimes? Do you ever ask the silent question: why God, does my life look like this when I am so faithfully following Your plan for me? I heard you loud and clear, yet my life looks like a wreck or is filled with heartache and discouragement?
Maybe you haven’t asked those questions, but I know I have. If I am so strongly called to something, why is it a struggle and why do I fail at times? As I was spending time in Jeremiah one day, a light bulb went on. Jeremiah never looked successful. No one liked him, and no one listened to Him. God didn’t grant Him success in mans eyes, however He was incredibly successful in God’s eyes. Success in God’s eyes is faithfulness and obedience to Him. The truth is, following God doesn’t mean it will be easy or that you will have success in man’s eyes. It might, but it isn’t guaranteed. David had success in man’s eyes but he still went through really hard times. There are Jeremiah’s in the world, then there are David’s who do end up with material success. Some people look like they have huge success while others may look like a failure to man.
God knew us before we were even formed. He planned our journey and fit it into the bigger plan of life in a perfect way. He said to Jeremiah in verse 8 of chapter 1, “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.”
It is the same for us today. We can look to Him as the author and finisher of our journey. We can trust Him. It doesn’t matter if our journey looks like Jeremiah’s or David’s. If God calls us to it, no amount of human knowledge can conclude it as a failure. God’s plan is so far above human understanding we can’t begin to put it together. We can trust that He is working it all out for HIS glory.
While David became King and looked successful at the end of his life, he wasn’t exempt from trials and heartaches. The beginning of his journey wasn’t quite the same as the end. He clung to God and trusted even when it didn’t make sense. He kept going even when he felt like he couldn’t’ anymore. In the end He did lead a successful life according to man. But I bet if you could ask him, he would say true success was in following God’s will and clinging to Him.
Jeremiah also followed God’s leading and knew without a doubt He was doing God’s will. However, his outcome didn’t look like Davids. Just because we are following God’s will, doesn’t mean we are promised earthly success. It means we will be blessed beyond belief in Spiritual blessings.
As you journey look to God, the creator. The One who holds all things in His hands. He is the supreme author and He can be trusted. He is the one we all look to to measure our success. Cling to Him my friend. Whatever your journey looks like today, He is good and He has a plan for your life. Are you willing to be used? Are you willing to be a David? Are you willing to be a Jeremiah? Are you willing to surrender your vision of success and follow hard after God?
I just recently read another great article on struggles, you can read it here.
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