Jeremiah 12 Devotional

Room for an Honest Complaint

“Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?”Jeremiah 12:1 (BSB)

Jeremiah opens with a complaint many believers have prayed. He grants that God is righteous, and then asks why the wicked prosper and the faithless live at ease (12:1). They talk about God constantly while their hearts are elsewhere (12:2).

God's answer is not an explanation. If racing men on foot has worn Jeremiah out, how will he keep pace with horses (12:5)? Even his own family has turned on him (12:6). Then God speaks of his own loss. He has forsaken his house and handed the people he loves most to their enemies, because his inheritance has roared against him like a lion (12:7-8). This is judgment spoken in the language of wounded love. And the chapter ends with compassion even for hostile neighbors, promising to bring them home and establish them among his people if they learn his ways (12:15-16). God makes room for honest questions, even when his answers surprise us. You can bring him your hardest why and trust his heart when his reasons stay hidden.

To think about: What hard why have you been holding back from God, and what would it look like to bring it to him honestly today?