Straight Talk

This is pretty bold and naked talk directed right at the God of the Universe:

"O Lord, you misled me, and I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am, and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked every day; everyone laughs at me."

Many versions translate Jeremiah 20:7: “O Lord, you deceived me.” Jeremiah was the “voice box of God,” one of God’s true prophets in Israel. So I have to think that his lines of communication to the Lord were direct and without much interference or static. God gave him the words, and Jeremiah, in turn, gave the words to the audience that God wanted to speak to. And yet, when the prophet is beaten and put in stocks by the priest, Pashhur, Jeremiah complains that God “set him up.” Lamentations 3:1-20 gives a detailed account of Jeremiah’s fingering God for his tough times. But Jeremiah comes through in the end with the BIG ‘but’: “But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:21-23). What strikes me most about this is the patience of God while Jeremiah is ranting and raving. God takes it right on the chin. I’m glad to know I can talk to God without having to mask my true feelings of doubt and sometimes even anger, and he’s big enough to handle it. Otherwise, I would have been squashed like a bug by now.