Jeremiah Has a Problem
I begin with a postscript, in the beginning, no less.
I was doing some ‘light reading’ of a book I’d been carrying around for a week (with no chance to read). “You Are What You Think by David Stoop.” At the beginning of the book I came upon a topic I was talking about with another writer here on Medium Caroline de Braganza, who recently wrote an article on Self-Talk. Impressed with the exceptionally great section, I read in my book, I started composing an article.
Jeremiah’s Problem
Try to see if you can diagnose Jeremiah’s problem.
Proverbs 23:7 — as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of His (God’s) wrath; He has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me He turns His hand, again and again, the whole day long. Verse 1–3
What misery at the onset! But it doesn’t end there. Continue with verses 4–6 here:
He has made my flesh and my skin waste away and broken my bones. He has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; He has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.
Can you feel his body ache in the above verses? I’m sure you can. And Jeremiah has someone to blame for it: God!
He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; He has put heavy chains on me; though I cry and call for help, He shuts out my prayer; He has blocked my ways with hewn stones, He has made my paths crooked. Verses 7–9
Poor Jeremiah. Here, do you get the feeling that Jeremiah feels trapped by Him? *sigh* His symptoms continue to plague him. Read on.
He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding; He led me off my way and tore me to pieces; He has made me desolate; He bent His bow and set me as a mark for His arrow. He drove into my heart the arrows of His quiver; I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the burden of their songs all day long. He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood. Verses 10–15
