Saturday, August 11, 2012

When the Efforts Seem Hopeless

Scripture Verse that Caught My Attention today: Jeremiah 7:27 So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.

Observation: This is a rather discouraging verse.

Application: Much has been written and spoken about as of late in regard to how to be ‘successful’ or ‘effective.’ Strategies are recommended. Systems are given the utmost attention. Daily habits of time management are examined and honed for the utmost efficiency. Determining priorities is given priority—all with the anticipated result of desired fruit in whatever form that might be.

Still, there are no guarantees in life. Although empirical testing and experience over time has taught us that there are some things we can do to increase our likelihood of success, wild cards still exist, not the least of which is the human heart’s capacity for both good and for ill.

I am struck by the task given to Jeremiah; speak…but they will not listen, call…but they will not answer.

No new strategy, procedure, system or the like would effectively change the hardened heart’s mind. No creative rhetorical device on Jeremiah’s part would bring about the change Jeremiah was summoned to seek. What a seemingly hopeless task! Why bother?

Because, as I’ve either heard or written about (or both) before, “the gift is the call.”

In this Olympic season there are literally millions who dream of someday standing on some Olympic podium. Yet regardless of one’s determination, sacrifice, and persistent training of body and mind, only a precious few will even get the opportunity to try out for the Olympics, much less ascend to the podium.

What shall the rest do? They shall run and jump and dive and tumble and whatever else tugs at their heart as a way to express the gifts they have been given.

The gift is the call, not the result. The gift is the process, not the end. The gift is the journey even more so than the destination.

So what if the people of Jeremiah’s day were not prone to hear his words or respond to his call! So what if our dreams are not always (or ever!) realized in the ways that we might have hoped. The process itself has redemptive value. God has given many a gift, many a task, many a ministry. The opportunity to simply engage in this work is precious in its own right.

That’s exactly what Jeremiah did, speaking on behalf of God for another 45 chapters even after he learning from God that the people wouldn’t even listen.

Prayer: Lord, systems, strategies and the like all have their place. But let us not succumb to determining our own value in relation to what we have accomplished. Rather let our value be deeply rooted in our trust in what you, through Christ, have already done. In Jesus’ name. Amen.


(Readings today included: Jeremiah 7-9 and John 13)

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