The cost of obedience and faith in God
"You seduced me, LORD, and I let myself be seduced; you were too strong for me, and you prevailed. All day long, I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I must cry out, violence and outrage I proclaim. The word of the LORD has brought me reproach and derision all day long. I say I will not mention him, I will no longer speak in his name. But then it is as if fire is burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding back, I cannot!" (Jeremiah 20:7–9) This anguished confession of the prophet Jeremiah captures the paradoxical cost of divine vocation. In brutally honest language, Jeremiah accuses God of seducing and overpowering him—a metaphor that expresses the overwhelming nature of the prophetic call. The prophet feels deceived, not because God has lied, but because the path of obedience has led not to vindication or acclaim, but to suffering and scorn. The vocation to speak God's word has placed him in perpetual conflict with his ...