Memory Text: “O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, everyone mocketh me” (Jeremiah 20:7).
Read for This Week’s Study: Jer. 23:14, 15; Jeremiah 20; Acts 2:37; Job 3; Jer. 18:1–10, 18–23.
One thing anyone who has followed the Lord for any length of time will learn is that being a believer in Jesus and seeking to do His will do not guarantee an easy passage through life. After all, as we have been told, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12, NKJV). This is a truth that Jeremiah was surely learning for himself.
At the same time, however, what our faith can do for us in times of trial is give us a broader understanding upon which we can steady ourselves amid our struggles. That is, when unfair and unjust sufferings and trials come (and no question, so many of them are unfair and unjust), we don’t have to be left alone with a sense of meaninglessness and purposelessness that people who don’t know the Lord often feel. We can know something of the big picture, and the ultimate hope God offers us, no matter how dismal the present is, and from this knowledge—and hope—we can draw strength. Jeremiah knew something of this context, though at times he seemed to forget it and instead focused only on his woes.
* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 31.
Adventist Sabbath School Lesson for Adults
Q4 2015 «Jeremiah»
Lesson 5 – More Woes for the Prophet
