Have you ever been picked on?

Bullied?

Lied about?

Rejected?

Do you wonder where God is when it happens?

Like all of you, I have suffered at the hands of an attacker. I have felt vulnerable, misunderstood, publicly humiliated, and outcast. When this happens, it can be challenging to feel God’s presence. We want to be defended. We want to be championed. We want to be exonerated.

We want revenge.

What is God doing when someone is on the attack?

In the fifteenth chapter of Jeremiah, we see the great Old Testament prophet suffering for his role as “prophet of doom.” God has called him to speak words of stern instruction and rebuke to the people who had gone very far astray of God’s word. This results in the people‘s attacking Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 15 (Contemporary English Version)

You can see how I suffer
insult after insult,
    all because of you, Lord.
Don’t be so patient
    with my enemies;
take revenge on them
    before they kill me.

This phrase “don’t be so patient with my enemies” speaks right to my heart. I have said the same when being attacked for something I preached (or worse, didn’t preach) or said in a church meeting. I want vengeance, God! I’m only in this situation because I am speaking for you, so where are you??

¹⁶ When you spoke to me,
    I was glad to obey,
because I belong to you,
    the Lord All-Powerful.
¹⁷ I don’t go to parties
    and have a good time.
Instead, I keep to myself,
because you have filled me
    with your anger.

¹⁸ I am badly injured
    and in constant pain.
Are you going to disappoint me,
like a stream that goes dry
    in the heat of summer?

Have you ever felt this way? This beautiful image of a stream that goes dry in the heat of the summer is poignant. When your heart is badly injured and you are experiencing constant pain from the assault, it very much can feel as though all of the joy in your spirit has completely dried up.

Then God responds to Jeremiah. And us.

The Lord Replies

¹⁹ Then the Lord told me:
    Stop talking like a fool!
If you turn back to me
    and speak my message,
I will let you be my prophet
    once again.
I hope the people of Judah
    will accept what you say.
But you can ignore their threats,
²⁰ because I am making you strong,
    like a bronze wall.
They are evil and violent,
    but when they attack,
²¹ I will be there to rescue you.
    I, the Lord, have spoken.

When you are under siege God is making you into a BRONZE WALL. A bronze wall! Strong, upright, impenetrable….nothing and no one can get past you when he is finished.

So take heart. This siege you are under is being used for your own good. You will emerge stronger, harder, taller, and immovable. God will be your rescuer when the time is right. He did it for Jeremiah and he’ll do it for you.