One of Jeremiah's seven conversations with God is found here in this chapter.

¹⁵ You understand, O LORD;
       remember me and care for me.
       Avenge me on my persecutors.
       You are long-suffering—do not take me away;
       think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

 ¹⁶ When your words came, I ate them;
       they were my joy and my heart's delight,
       for I bear your name,
       O LORD God Almighty.

 ¹⁷ I never sat in the company of revelers,
       never made merry with them;
       I sat alone because your hand was on me
       and you had filled me with indignation.

 ¹⁸ Why is my pain unending
       and my wound grievous and incurable?
       Will you be to me like a deceptive brook,
       like a spring that fails?

In the inner heart of Jeremiah, we find these thoughts. Persecuted, suffering, loyal but lonely, faithful but feeling forgotten, unending pain and deep wounds that were not capable of healing. Jeremiah is fearful that the water of life will dry up.

Even the prophet is down. His heart is beating but just barely. It is broken and erratic, deeply affected for his country and himself. There is no need for the real Jeremiah to stand up, we're looking at him. Any concerns that Jeremiah is not for real should be stripped away in these conversations. As Peterson suggests in his book, Run With The Horses, Jeremiah is not a "Religiopath". He's the real deal.

Can Jeremiah's prayer life be a guide for mine, for yours? I think so. None of us want the problems that Jeremiah had, but we have our problems, don't we? One thing that I value is that Jeremiah doesn't turn away from his problems, he turns more decidedly toward God.

Remember this text from James 5:

¹⁰Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

And of course, this well known passage from James 1:

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I suppose that's the thing here, Perseverance. Like so many others, Jeremiah has learned and lived perseverance. He has learned it in tough times. Maybe, and I say maybe carefully, it is only learned well in tough times. I wish this were not so. I wish we could learn it without the painful experiences of life. But I don't see a lot of evidence for that, Biblical or contemporary.

If Jeremiah had joined the "Peace, Peace" crowd, I would be more frightened had I known him. The need to color problems with a rosy paintbrush or only talk about good things or avoid discussion of the tough problems was not his need. For that we can be glad. But notice who he talked his problems over with. God. Not revelers or other humans so much, but God.

This simple concept amazes and haunts me. It's all I can do to avoid conversations about problems on an hourly basis. I hear and see problems every day, sometimes more than I can stand. There are people who think that I run a bank and they can deposit all their troubles and problems in that bank. It gets to be a pretty sad place. I learn from Jeremiah that I don't have the right to take and hold those problems where they will intensify and grow with interest. I have the responsibility to take them to God, both the problem and the one who is dealing with the problem.

Leaders should always be open to problems, life is filled with them, and at this point, would be strange without them,(I'm ready for some strange life without problems all the same, probably the name for that is Heaven) but leaders must know where to turn for problem solving. Some problems may not be solved in our lifetime and that is probably a good indication that it is not really our problem, but it can and should be our prayer.

Jeremiah was real with his faith, his religion. He did not run away from reality nor sugarcoat it, but turned into it with the megaphone of prayer and the confidence that God hears our prayers. That is prophetic leadership. That is leadership. That is life in the Lord.


Jeremiah 15

 ¹ Then the LORD said to me: "Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! ² And if they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' tell them, 'This is what the LORD says:
       " 'Those destined for death, to death;
       those for the sword, to the sword;
       those for starvation, to starvation;
       those for captivity, to captivity.'

 ³ "I will send four kinds of destroyers against them," declares the LORD, "the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. ⁴ I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

 ⁵ "Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?
       Who will mourn for you?
       Who will stop to ask how you are?

 ⁶ You have rejected me," declares the LORD.
       "You keep on backsliding.
       So I will lay hands on you and destroy you;
       I can no longer show compassion.

 ⁷ I will winnow them with a winnowing fork
       at the city gates of the land.
       I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people,
       for they have not changed their ways.

 ⁸ I will make their widows more numerous
       than the sand of the sea.
       At midday I will bring a destroyer
       against the mothers of their young men;
       suddenly I will bring down on them
       anguish and terror.

 ⁹ The mother of seven will grow faint
       and breathe her last.
       Her sun will set while it is still day;
       she will be disgraced and humiliated.
       I will put the survivors to the sword
       before their enemies,"
       declares the LORD.

 ¹⁰ Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,
       a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!
       I have neither lent nor borrowed,
       yet everyone curses me.

 ¹¹ The LORD said,
       "Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose;
       surely I will make your enemies plead with you
       in times of disaster and times of distress.

 ¹² "Can a man break iron—
       iron from the north—or bronze?

 ¹³ Your wealth and your treasures
       I will give as plunder, without charge,
       because of all your sins
       throughout your country.

 ¹⁴ I will enslave you to your enemies
       in ^[a] a land you do not know,
       for my anger will kindle a fire
       that will burn against you."

 ¹⁵ You understand, O LORD;
       remember me and care for me.
       Avenge me on my persecutors.
       You are long-suffering—do not take me away;
       think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

 ¹⁶ When your words came, I ate them;
       they were my joy and my heart's delight,
       for I bear your name,
       O LORD God Almighty.

 ¹⁷ I never sat in the company of revelers,
       never made merry with them;
       I sat alone because your hand was on me
       and you had filled me with indignation.

 ¹⁸ Why is my pain unending
       and my wound grievous and incurable?
       Will you be to me like a deceptive brook,
       like a spring that fails?

 ¹⁹ Therefore this is what the LORD says:
       "If you repent, I will restore you
       that you may serve me;
       if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
       you will be my spokesman.
       Let this people turn to you,
       but you must not turn to them.

 ²⁰ I will make you a wall to this people,
       a fortified wall of bronze;
       they will fight against you
       but will not overcome you,
       for I am with you
       to rescue and save you,"
       declares the LORD.

 ²¹ "I will save you from the hands of the wicked
       and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel."