Make up for the gaps in your life and write wonderful stories
Looking at the path of literary ministers from the story of Jeremiah’s calling
Prophet Jeremiah: 100% Literary Man
The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was called in 626 BC and served until 586 BC, the year when Judah fell to Babylon. He wrote fifty-two chapters of Jeremiah and five chapters of Lamentations, which cover his personal life story, the message he was called to convey to Judah and other nations, contemporary historical events, and even prophecies pointing to the New Testament. Coupled with his sincere and literary poems, he is a 100% literary person.
▲The prophet Jeremiah mourned at the ruins of Jerusalem. (Painter: Horace Vernet, 1844. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah)
Jeremiah's time
The political situation was extremely unstable. None of the six kings of Judah he met died. The Kingdom of Judah was struggling to survive in the cracks between Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia as the three major powers competed for control of Palestine. However, each time they chose the wrong side, bet on the wrong treasure, and found the wrong person to surrender to, which resulted in even more severe blows and humiliation.
Economic collapse. With wars and wars all over the sky, powerful armies invaded Jerusalem at every turn, burning, killing, and looting, resulting in a shortage of supplies, housing shortages, and production almost coming to a standstill. Refugees and hungry people filled the streets, and social conflicts intensified.
Confused beliefs. Although Josiah, the last good king of Judah, initiated a religious revival movement, after two generations of fifty-seven years of rule by his grandfather Manasseh and father Amon, Judah had already become a pantheistic country of infanticide and sacrifice. Even the priests no longer know the Lord (Jeremiah 2:8). Therefore, God’s judgment cannot help but come, and Judah’s defeat is ultimately irreversible.
Jeremiah was called
In such an era, Jeremiah was called to be a prophet, accepting God’s call and declaring God’s severe judgment! (Jeremiah 1:13-16) God has specially prepared a vivid verbal image for this message - a huge cauldron filled with boiling soup, pouring from north to south, with such power that the skin and flesh of the whole country are scorched. bursting, screaming and wailing; because all the kingdom of Judah has forsaken the LORD, burning incense to other gods, and bowing down to the work of their own hands. Not only did God not call Jeremiah to be a hero or a great man like U.S. President Lincoln or British Prime Minister Churchill, who turned the tide, but God called him to be a "crow" who hates others and repays bad news.
Indeed, when the country was in turmoil and precarious, no one from the king to the officials to the people was willing to admit their mistakes. God used Jeremiah to convey the message that He would use Babylon to judge Judah, which made him the one who shook the morale of the people. Scapegoat. As a result, during his forty years of prophetic ministry, Jeremiah became the enemy of his countrymen. They fought with him and cursed him everywhere (Jeremiah 15:10). He was teased all day long and became a laughing stock, even among his close friends. Turn your back on him. God also did not allow him to marry and have children. He used his lonely experience to predict the tragedy of Judah’s captivity (Jeremiah 16), and ordered him to put a rope and a yoke around his neck (Jeremiah 27) to confirm the message! God imposed the judgment that would be imposed on Judah on Jeremiah in advance, hoping to awaken the rebellious people through the chastening of Jeremiah!
▲Michelangelo depicts the prophet Jeremiah on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. (Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah)
Use life performance information
Jeremiah not only had to speak and write the message entrusted to him by God, but he also had to act it out in his own life. The road to serving God is not easy! Let us start from the first chapter of Jeremiah and observe how Jeremiah filled the gap in his life through his trust and obedience, and wrote a wonderful story. Let us also consider how you and I can mend the gap through trust and obedience. Take a break in life and write our own wonderful stories.
First, you and I can come to God as we are, wounded and broken (1:6, 8). "Break" can sometimes be called "wound", or "door" as described in martial arts novels. Where did the breach come from? ─Being depressed after failure, getting carried away after success, being surrounded by the environment, and experiencing great pressure in life. The most fundamental and critical reasons are none other than the weaknesses and loopholes in life (such as the pride, inferiority, jealousy, greed, and lust of the old self... …). A gap in life is like a cave-in on a road. Even if the cave-in is only a few meters wide for hundreds of kilometers, no matter how solid and smooth the rest of the road is, how superior the performance of the car is, or what the driver wants. No matter how willing you are to reach your destination, if you can’t get there, you won’t get there! Unless, wait until the rescue team repairs the collapsed area.
Whether you are a spiritual giant or an ordinary believer, there is a shield for everyone! As Bible scholar Pastor Lai Ruohan said, the fault of Adam and Eve, the first ancestors of mankind, was selfishness; the fault of Abraham, the father of faith, was fear; David, who claimed to be after God's own heart, once had a cover but was a womanizer; modesty is better than that of everyone in the world. Moses, the breach was that he did not rely on God but relied on his own title and power. Colleagues, as ministers of literature who have, will have, or will have a halo with them in the future, where are the gaps in our lives that you and I need to ask the Lord to protect, cover, and mend with His power and love?
Teacher Mo Fei, director of the Genesis Literary Training Bookstore, once wrote that media stars, media people, literati, artists, business executives, famous scientists, scholars or successful businessmen...etc., those who have a place on the worldly stage, enter It is often easier to get a place in the church circle later. She reminded: "The worldly glory has changed its appearance and become a spiritual identity and talent. ... Their comments about the church or suggestions on service methods will often get more attention as soon as they are uttered. ... However, gifts are not the same as life. Active service is not the same as active spiritual life. It is easy for people to ignore that when their spirits are weak or even wandering, they also need someone to supervise and watch over them. It would be a harm to those who serve effectively if they do not demand the most important qualities of servanthood—humility, teachability, and self-sacrifice.”
There are holes in life without realizing it, and the holes get bigger and bigger. Until a collapse occurs on the road of service, and the big halo has become a big target. I am still confused: Why does everyone seem to be targeting me?
▲It’s a long road and only a few feet collapsed, but if we don’t repair it first, we can’t move forward no matter what!
Prevent and plug breaches from the root
In an article, Lin Zi'endang, the author of "The Kingdom of God", particularly echoed the importance of preventing and blocking the breach from the root. After days of heavy rain, she saw a staff member inspecting a very tall tree at the Botanical Garden and told her: "This tree grows too tall, and sometimes when it encounters strong winds and rains, its branches will be broken and it will hit nearby power lines. It even fell into the backyard of a house separated by a wall from the botanical garden, so for safety reasons, the whole plant may have to be cut down soon to avoid causing danger.”
Zi En was curious, couldn't we just saw off the trunk or branches that were too high, but did we have to remove the entire tree? The staff said: "The problem lies in the roots of the tree." When this tree was first planted, there were no competing trees around it, so its roots were deep and long, and its branches and leaves were strong. Unless the roots were cut off and castrated, there was no way to really stop it from growing. speed.
Lin Zien concluded: Many times, whether we see problems or personal phenomena that need to be dealt with, we often only focus on the surface, always hoping to achieve the purpose of "renewal" by correcting behavior, but in fact, the ultimate root cause is if If they are not dug up, the old self is not dealt with, or even put to death, those branchy tree trunks cannot be sawed or chopped.
Jeremiah also had a flaw in his life that needed to be dealt with at the root—little faith in God and biased self-perception. This makes it too easy for him to find excuses for himself to avoid God’s call. He is very aware of his own shortcomings and weaknesses, but he turns a blind eye to God's promises and abundance, and even deliberately ignores them. Facing God’s call, Jeremiah described himself as young, inexperienced, and clumsy (1:6). Facing the call, he was extremely fearful (1:8). From the entire book of Jeremiah, we can see that It turned out that he was very introverted and even tended to be melancholy. When he could no longer walk and wanted to return home to heal his wounds, the people in his hometown of Anathoth regarded him as a great shame and wanted to kill him (11:21). In the end, the whole country turned against him (15:10); everyone laughed and insulted him. , abandoned by close friends (20:7,10). Jeremiah believed that God called him to “find the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Due to my little faith in God and my biased self-perception, at different stages of my ministry and when I faced different callings and challenges, I have handed over this resume to God: too old; too young; too stupid; Too slow; too hasty; poor memory; weak body; poor physical strength; susceptible to allergies; prone to airsickness, motion sickness, and seasickness; picky eaters; prone to bed problems; difficult to adjust to jet lag; unable to stand anger; prone to anger; easy to offend others; not good at computers; My writing is not good; I will be nervous when I go on stage...
Think about it, if the chairman of the largest conglomerate in the world, without going through the human resources department or the confidential secretary, called me directly to ask me to be a member of the group's spokesperson team, I would hand him a crappy resume. , degrade yourself to nothing? Or do you do your part, accept it without hesitation, and accept it happily?
Then again, we cannot just rely on our own "positive thinking" and think that we can be used by God by saying "I can! I am great! I can do it!" in front of the mirror a hundred times a day. The example Jeremiah shows us is to bravely admit our weaknesses, shortcomings, and failures, and let God do wonders in our lives. Because our strength and confidence come from God, not from our limited, weak selves.
A breach or wound → the entrance of great love and power → the exit of amazing grace
God does not need perfect people (there are no such people in the world), God does not need people who think they are perfect, and God does not need people who pretend to be perfect! He only requires those who are willing to come to Him sincerely and as they are, determined to trust and obey. We just need to take off our disguises, take off our masks, come naked and boldly to the throne of grace (see Hebrews 4:16).
Coming before God as we are does not mean that we do not need to change, grow, or make breakthroughs. Rather, it emphasizes that as long as we turn to Him, He promises to continue to work in our lives until His purpose for us is fulfilled.
For those who truly trust and obey, every break or wound in their lives is an entrance to God’s great love and power. When you are gradually repaired, renewed, and healed by God during your pilgrimage, you can become a person who shares the miracles. The outlet of amazing grace! We must be convinced that God’s calling and protection are the driving force for our trust and obedience (1:10-12,17), which allows us to fill the gaps, watch each other, move forward bravely, and write stories.
From the fact that Jehovah put his hand on Jeremiah’s mouth (1:9), we can know for sure that in addition to our thoughts and visions, God also attaches great importance to the organs or media we use to serve. Have we sincerely invited Him to touch our preaching mouths, writing hands, typing keyboards, mobile phones that forward messages, and the software that produces and packages content for dissemination?
God pointedly commanded Jeremiah: "Girdle your loins and tell them everything I command you." (1:17) In other words, people who sit still cannot experience the power and love of God. Only those who face challenges and take action can taste the real and living grace; only those who are brave enough to do things they have never done before will bring about life changes; only those who are willing to do things they would not have done before can Only by being willing to do things you are not naturally willing to do can you lead to a breakthrough in life!
You will encounter difficulties, but the Lord’s grace is enough
How can we fill the gaps in our lives and write wonderful stories through our trust and obedience? In addition to coming to the Heavenly Father as we are, praying for His mercy and healing, and using His calling and protection as motivation for our trust and obedience, we must also realize clearly: Responding to the call will inevitably encounter hardships, but God His grace is enough. (1:5,7,8,18,19)
Bible scholar Professor Wu Xianzhang wrote: Jeremiah suffered from congenital disorders and acquired deficiencies when he was called, and was anxious and fearful in his heart. During the following forty years of service, his harsh words were hated by his beloved compatriots, and the whole country Seeing him as an enemy, "anguish and embarrassment like wormwood and gall" was a portrayal of his life (Lamentations 3:19)! We can imagine that when someone asked this prophet who stood in front of the ruins and sang a lamentation in tears: "If God gives you another chance to live this life again, are you still willing to walk this long road of no return?" Old Jeremiah must have He would respond decisively: "It is good for a man to bear a yoke in his youth." (Lamentations 3:27) He was not at all called to do so because of his youth, and to walk on this unpopular but pleasing path to God. Regret at the point of no return!
Yes, God had plans and guidance for the past, present, and future of the writer Jeremiah. Although this road is difficult to walk, it is a glorious journey protected and blessed by God. The fruits he bore in his written service have blessed and edified hundreds of millions of God’s people, and they are still speaking to us today. Helping us repair the gaps in our lives!
In the twenty-year history of KRC, such miracles have happened every day, month, and year! This is a long, arduous, but also more surprising and wonderful series of stories. It is experienced and witnessed by a group of co-workers who insist on filling the gaps in family, society and culture for God. The "present perfect progressive tense" ranges from "impossible" to "difficult" to "wonderful achievements", that is: it has happened in the past, is happening now, and will continue to happen in the future! We, our team, and our ministry are miracles, and we are amazed every day by God’s real and living amazing grace!
Pastor Su Wen'an, the editor-in-chief of this magazine and KRC's text pastor, deeply reflected on the story of Jeremiah's calling and shared it with the public.