Recently, I’ve been diving into the book of Jeremiah.
I came across a few different portions of scripture where God is describing the horrible things he is going to do to the Israelites and their children. Throughout the Old Testament there are several instances where God punishes His people by punishing their children.
This broke my heart.
There were so many children dying because of the sins of their parents.
I prayed on this for a little while, wondering why God wouldn’t just punish the actual sinners for their sins, why did the children have to suffer for their parents? They were innocent.
I always thought that God punished the Israelites with the death of their children as a way of breaking their family line, essentially ending their lineage. It can be so easy to forget that they were people just like we are, with feelings, goals, and loved ones.
Their children were everything to them, just like ours are for us today. They weren’t just about securing a family legacy or making a few more farm hands.
I wonder if maybe this is the most severe punishment humans can endure.
The worst pain I can imagine as a parent is watching my children suffer or even enduring their death.
I mean, I can hardly stand it when they are sick!
Recently, my kids caught some little virus, which started with my son, and eventually hit my daughter. In a moment of worry for my son’s recovery, a friend of mine reminded me how important it is to take a step back in moments where you’re overcome with worry, fear, or anxiety, especially for your children. She reminded me that sometimes, just remembering to thank God for the opportunity to be worried about my child can help alleviate my fears.
Shortly after this conversation with my friend, my daughter got sick. While it wasn’t entirely unexpected, after the time it took for my son to kick whatever it was and get back to himself, it made me pretty concerned for how she might handle the same thing.
As I started to fret, I remembered the conversation with my friend and began to thank and praise God for my many blessings. I gave gratitude for my daughter, the strengthening of her immune system, that she wasn’t super sick, my son, his health, and so on and so forth.
It seemed with every blessing I named out loud, no matter how big or small, I felt the weight of fear lighten on my shoulders.
When I think about that whole situation, I’m so grateful that they weren’t more sick. But I remember the many times God punished the Israelites with the demise of their children and praise Him for being the loving God we know since Jesus.
That thought brought me to another truth.
God knows how painful that punishment truly would be and is for any parent who endures it because He endured it for all of us.
He sent His only son to die for our sins. From the moment Jesus entered our world, it was planned. God knew exactly what would happen and how, and yet, because He loves us, He went through with it anyway.
The God I serve is not without compassion or understanding.
It is so naive of me to think that when my heart is breaking here on earth that God doesn’t understand.
This might be the biggest takeaway from the Book of Jeremiah that I’ve had so far.
Upon surface level reading, it seems like God is just super mad and tired of dealing with the Israelites’ sinful ways. It just seems like He’s “over them” and wants to completely wipe them off the earth in a fit of rage.
But as I read through the chapters, God is telling the whole story, and I find it to be filled with such a deep grief. God isn’t just mad, He’s devastated.
Perhaps He was grieving, feeling rejected, disappointed, sad, frustrated, and angry, just like we would. After all, we are made in His image.
I empathize with Jeremiah for being the listening ear for God, a punching bag for the rest of Judah, and the messenger everyone wanted to shoot. From my reading so far, he earned the right to be called the weeping prophet. I can’t imagine anyone who could live through what he did and not be even a little emotional or moved to tears regularly.
What brings me comfort is knowing that when I feel deeply and utterly alone in this world, surrounded by anxiety and fear or disappointment and heartbreak, God knows how I feel. He’s felt it for Himself and He feels it with us when we are struggling.
For me, sometimes just knowing that someone else has felt what I’m feeling or has been through what I’m going through can make all the difference. In this moment, it is especially helpful to know that my Father in heaven doesn’t expect me to always be happy - just faithful.