Why is that all of the “swaggiest” rappers and most popular actors who give no glory to God get all of the fame? Why is it that that one person who is crude to me gets all of the friends?
Go ahead and label me a Jeremiah because just like him, in Jeremiah 12, he wonders the same thing. And as God does, sometimes in loud ways or in silence, He gives Jeremiah an answer. Let’s take a closer look….
Jeremiah 12: 1-4
“You are always righteous, Lord,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2 You have planted them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.
3 Yet you know me, Lord;
you see me and test my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!
4 How long will the land lie parched
and the grass in every field be withered?
Because those who live in it are wicked,
the animals and birds have perished.
Moreover, the people are saying,
“He will not see what happens to us.”
Jeremiah is speaking from a place we have all been caught into. As sinners we are more than likely constantly thinking about the state we are in and of those around us. But, all of the qualities that Jeremiah mentions are all qualities of a human, not of a human with Christ inside of him.
- a sinner without Christ can prosper in his ways (verse 1)
- a sinner without Christ can live at ease (verse 1)
- a sinner without Christ can take root (verse 2)
- A sinner without Christ can produce fruit (verse 2)
A sinner can do every thing a Christian can do…but here is the difference..
- A sinner saved by grace prosperous according to God’s will, which he has accepted. While the sinner without Christ prospers in his sinful ways.
- A sinner saved by grace can live at easy knowing that the Lord has him/her right where he wants them. A sinner without Christ lives at ease thinking that “this is the best life” with no thought to ask God how to change it or make his life better.
- A sinner saved by grace can take root in God’s truth, unlike the sinner without Christ who takes root in lies.
- A sinner saved by grace produces good fruit, while the sinner without Christ produces bad fruit.
Sure the wicked may prosper and sure the saved can prosper too, but the wicked and the saved have something more in common too….both are loved by the Lord just as much. Does that mean that Bob gets a better “God produced plan” than Billy? No, God has a plan for each of us to form us into who He wants us to be. He even has a plan for the wicked one…for them to know Him! The wicked seem to be prospering? Look at your life…you weren’t who you were yesterday..you have the Lord….rethink you prospering!
Lets read about God’s response….
“If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?
6 Your relatives, members of your own family—
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.” (verse 5 & 6)
Everybody has their own “God given pace”, that doesn’t mean that (however fast or slow your going) you have lost your place in God’s plan. The faster you go doesn’t mean you will “get done faster”…what does that even mean when we think of the “time unknown”(Matthew 24:36). Exactly, it makes no sense why run ahead and pass by opportunities because you think the end is near. Instead, be present in the pace that God has set for you.
God has set a pace for all of us…accept your place in “the great pace”. God has you racing with “runners” so that your strength will build in all areas, soreness? Sure…soreness is a sign for “sure” strength. Then after running with the runners, you can run up with the “horses.” (verse 5)
Where God has placed you is not based on a “greater or less” class system. Your relationship with Christ shouldn’t be on how skilled you get, but on how close you get to Christ and becoming like Him.
“Your relatives, members of your own family—
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.” (verse 6)
Don’t put your confidence in other fellow runners. Even when they may promise to slow down so you can speed up. Have confidence in God who is giving you water, not to speed up, but to be fully thriving in the place he has put you.
“Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.” ( verse 10 )
Guilty as they come on this one. When we compare other peoples pace to ours(especially the “wicked”) this is the result. Sameness. Wanting the “same thing” as them so what God has grown especially for you becomes a “desolate wasteland”. When we compare the wicked to our lives,taking away what they have and what we don’t, all through the lenses of a “handful” abundance, instead of what the saved have hidden away in the abundance of Christ….plentiful becomes plain, and decorative becomes desolate.
“They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.
They will bear the shame of their harvest
because of the Lord’s fierce anger.” (verse 13)
Planting with seeds of “attitude” and not “gratitude” will result in an empty harvest. Don’t put your hope in an outcome of the seed, but in the seed that was planted by Christ. Because, just like the seed it thrives off of the one who created it, outcomes do not.
Meaning that when God shows you a “seed”, a different perspective, an idea, trust the Lord….don’t get so caught up in the outcome that the building up to it becomes dry because you forgot to water the seed.
Why do the wicked prosper? Just how we prosper…they prosper off of what we think is right. The wicked think that sin is right, but we believe that God is right. Don’t compare your pace and place to that of the “wicked one”. God has a plan for their life just as much as he does you. Pray for that person(Matthew 5:44)…they also need it just as much as you do!
With Christ like bubbling love,
Julia
Dear Heavenly Father, I praise you for where you have placed me even when my pace seems slow compared to others. Help me to pray for those who don’t know you, and be present where you have placed me. You may have placed me where someone needs to here about you….help me to see that. In Jesus’ name I pray….AMEN.
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