Jeremiah 11:18-20 (NRSV)
Read Jeremiah 11:18-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 18It was the Lord who made it known to me, and I knew; then you showed me their evil deeds. Verse 19But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!" Verse 20But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
Devotion
Years ago, Rabbi Harold Kushner became famous when he wrote a book entitled “Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?” This age-old question is an excellent one.
I wish I knew why bad things happen to good people, but I don’t. I hold hope in the words of the Apostle Paul, “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but one day we shall see face to face.” (1 Cor. 13:12) This means that while we are on this earth, we will not understand everything. Our minds are too small. Our intellects are human, not divine. For now, we are to trust God.
That is essentially what the prophet Jeremiah is expressing in the eleventh chapter. Stating his innocence and his naiveté, he writes, “I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, 'Let us destroy the fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!'”
What do you do when it seems as if all the forces of evil and the devil are working against you? You do what Jeremiah did. You trust in God. Despite all that was happening, Jeremiah was able to say, “For to you I have committed my cause.”
In placing his total and complete trust in God, Jeremiah learned that God is indeed faithful and God’s word is true.
Prayer
Lord of life and love, each and every day of our lives, in good times and in bad, may we entrust our lives and commit our cause to you, trusting in your divine providence. Amen.