We’ve all heard the story of Joseph (or seen the musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat). You’ll remember he’s the one who endured years of slavery and prison before his dreams (of bowing wheat sheaves and stars paying homage) came true.
We also know about Moses, an adopted prince in Pharaoh’s household who ended up in the wilderness herding sheep. Forty years later God called him to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.
And we’re familiar with Paul who spent years traveling from place to place and, yes, suffering all kinds of trials—beatings, imprisonment, dangers, shipwrecks—all for the privilege of serving God, introducing people to Jesus and establishing churches.
These Biblical stories and others teach us to never give up, because we never know when God will show up to turn a prisoner into a prime minister, a shepherd into a great leader, or a Pharisee tentmaker into a world evangelist.
Then there’s Jeremiah. His is a different kind of story altogether. He was called by God to warn the inhabitants of Judah that destruction would come if they did not return to God and follow his ways. It was not a one-time message. Over a period of forty years Jeremiah spoke many times of coming doom.
Almost no one listened. (A brief revival took place under King Josiah, but when he died, the people returned to their complacency and evil ways.)
We love the stories of Joseph, Moses, Paul, and others, whose perseverance was rewarded with success. But what about Jeremiah?
He, too, persevered through trials–poverty and deprivation, imprisonment and ill-treatment, rejection and ridicule. For what? According to the evidence (minimal results for his efforts), Jeremiah was a wretched failure. Yet he had obeyed God faithfully, endured patiently, and preached courageously.
Perhaps visible evidence is not the best way to quantify success.
Instead, the true measure of success involves our characters, not our acquisitions (Joshua 1:8).
The true measure of success may include the tenacity to get up every day and face the same tasks as yesterday, to persistently make choices that further God’s objectives for each of us, and to remain steadfast even when discouraged (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Last, a true measure of success is how our choices honor God (1 Kings 2:3). Jeremiah may not have turned thousands back to Yahweh, but that was not due to his lack of effort or disobedience to God. Jeremiah doggedly preached to the people of Judah—month after month, year after year.
So the true measure of success includes: 1) pursuing godly character, 2) persevering toward God-given purpose, and 3) making choices that honor him.
Today, such successful people might look like:
- The parent who has put his career on hold to invest time in his young children.
- the business owner who drives a twelve-year old car so he can give generously to ministries.
- The college student slowly working her way through school, anxious to return to her inner city neighborhood and teach school
For those of us looking for that kind of success, Jeremiah is our hero.
He lived out these precepts :
- Do our prayerful best and leave the results with God.
- Press on–day by day, month by month, year by year if necessary. Allow such perseverance to build our trust in God and strengthen our character.
- Persist until God tells us to stop. (How do we know we’ve reached that moment? Peace, not uncertainty, will fill our spirits.)
We may not understand what God is doing, but we know him. And he is holy love and perfect wisdom.*
*Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, p. 129.
(Art & photo credits: www.commons.wikimedia.org; http://www.pinterest.com (2); http://www.christianquotes.info; http://www.pilgrimsrock.com.)
From the Inside Out 