Have you ever planned a holiday celebration and then, instead of seeing your prayers and hopes fulfilled, you see things flow downward in an unending spiral. The turkey burns, the eggnog runs out, six extra guests arrive.
Like Isaiah, Jeremiah served faithfully as a prophet of Jehovah for many decades. Where Isaiah had opportunity to present an uplifting message about the glory of the Lord, Jeremiah received a frightening message about God’s judgment on the nations. The more Jeremiah preached about the reality of a coming Day of Judgment, the worse his own circumstances became. It was bad enough that his family and neighbors rejected him. It was frightening when his colleagues at work threatened to take his life. Then the king himself allowed his officials to arrest Jeremiah and abandon him in a cistern full of mud and sewage. Had God forgotten the prophet’s many faithful years of preaching?
Perhaps, in despair, Jeremiah reread what the Lord said in Isaiah’s scrolls (49:15): “Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.” God never forgets his children.
Sure enough, one faithful man recruited help, rescued Jeremiah from the pit, and pulled him from the mud.
If God has not yet answered your prayers, though years have gone by and circumstances have gotten worse rather than better, be assured, the Lord has not forgotten you or our request!
