Hans Sangtoki Bible Reading: Jeremiah 20:7-18
“[cast] all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
Where do we go when we are troubled, weary, and just not in the right headspace? Where do we turn when everything is full of confusion, and we just don’t know what’s right and wrong?
God calls us to cast all our anxieties on Him because He cares for us. An example of this is Jeremiah’s prayer in Jeremiah 20. Other examples include the countless number of David’s psalms and prayers by godly men like Job. Even Jesus prayed often, and we can see His prayer at the garden of Gethsemane.
For godly men, prayer is not a mere routine or a reciting of mantras. Often, our prayers feel this way. We pray because we have to or are accustomed to in the morning, at meals, and before bed. God does not desire empty rituals from us. On the contrary, God longs for a relationship with us. He wants to hear our struggles and our difficulties. Like all relationships, God wants us to be open and honest before Him.
Jeremiah was God’s prophet in a time before Judah was exiled to Babylon. If you think of a prophet, you probably expect a saintly man who commits no sin and lives a smooth-sailing and perfect Christian life. However, that is not the case. After Jeremiah spends a night in the stocks after being mocked, ridiculed and physically tortured by false priests who think Jeremiah’s prophecies regarding impending judgement were but nonsense from a mad citizen, Jeremiah does not find himself in a good headspace.
He cries out to the Lord with all His anguish. “O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me” ˆ(Jeremiah 20:7). At the lowest point in His life, Jeremiah let out all his emotions to God. He told God how he was angry at God and how he was sick of being a prophet because it only ended up in persecution. The next moment Jeremiah remembers God’s words of promises to him and praises God because God upholds the godly. However, Jeremiah goes back to cursing the day he was born and moans, “Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?” (Jeremiah 20:18).
Jeremiah unveiled his deepest struggles and pain, which inflicted him from the inside. He let out everything to God. What is amazing is, God always wants to listen, and He cares for us. God knows what’s best for us, and like a father to his son, God has compassion for His children, and God lifts up those who humble themselves before Him.
Whatever your struggles are, open them up to the Lord. He cares for you. Whatever may happen in your life, remember to bring all things to the Lord in prayer.
Lord, teach us to pray to You. Teach us what it means to live day by day in communion with You. You know everything about us before we even say it. Yet, You want to listen to us because You care for us. Thank You, God. Teach us not to rely on ourselves but to rely on You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Hans Sangtoki (18) is the coordinator of RE Generation Z. He has a passion for serving his generation and sharing hope in Christ. He also has an interest in classical music and dreams of conducting an orchestra one day.