Sermon Study Guides

EVERYONE wants to make a difference so our lives count; so we pray for God’s direction and step out in faith. However, we often find life doesn’t turn out the way we hoped, because God’s plans for us could be different.

Jeremiah, born in a small village near Jerusalem, grew up in a religious home; his father, Hilkiah, was a priest. God approached Jeremiah when he was a young man, and told him that he was set apart to be God’s prophet to the nations, giving them a warning to stop their idolatry and return to God, or they would be destroyed by the nations surrounding them. Jeremiah knew his plans for the future would change if he obeyed God in this all-consuming role. Being timid, reserved and disliking crowds, he knew the unpopular message from God would result in him being shunned and ridiculed.

Jeremiah made excuses about being the wrong man. But God saw Jeremiah’s humble heart and reassured him He would be there to instruct, guide, direct and rescue him as needed. Jeremiah just had to save God’s people from certain destruction and turn them back to HIM. Jeremiah, despite the high cost of saying YES to GOD, threw caution to the wind, obeyed God, and boldly declared God’s message. Some family members and friends, convinced he was mentally unstable, drummed up a conspiracy to kill him; he was beaten, put in stocks, thrown into a dungeon; there was an attempt to kill him by putting him into a deep, smelly cistern filled with insects, dead animals, etc., and he was increasingly subjected to abuse, suffering and rejection.

Prophet Jeremiah wrote between 625 and 580 BC. In chapter 1, God calls him to be His prophet. In chapters 2-51, Jeremiah talks about the God-given prophecies and proclamations. In the last Chapter, 52, we learn that the predictions about the fall and destruction of Jerusalem and Judah are fulfilled.

Occasionally, Jeremiah regretted obeying God’s call, but he saw God’s Word materializing. It troubled him that nobody heeded his warnings. (In fact, there is no Scriptural evidence that Jeremiah saw his ministry making a difference. He began to write his lament in what is now the Book of Lamentations.) Although Jeremiah was dismayed, he CONTINUED TO FOLLOW GOD, without wavering; he believed God was good and could be trusted, even though he did not understand. When instructed by God, he wrote to the surviving elders and priests in Babylon, directing them on rules for living while in exile, and promising to make a way for them to return to Jerusalem. Verse 11 of Chapter 29, God says: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This reveals God’s UNFAILING LOVE FOR US. Jeremiah was COMPLETELY HONEST WITH GOD about everything he experienced and ‘rested in God’s sovereignty’ until his death. Joseph, at a young age, was also called by God to be a leader of a nation. Yet he spent many years as a slave in Egypt, and then was imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit; he also rested in the sovereignty of God.

When we surrender our lives and allow GOD to show us HIS plans for us, HE will use everything that happens to us to draw us closer to Himself, shaping us into the person HE created us to be, in HIS time. Whom will you choose today?