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Jeremiah 27:14 "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon,' for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you."

 

Imagine being in Jeremiah's shoes. The poor man was being told by God to tell his countrymen to surrender to their worst enemy. He knew this was the best thing they could do, because God had told him, and he knew their suffering would be so much worse if they did not listen. This not only enraged the people, it flew in the face of everything they thought they knew of God and His protection of them. They were the chosen people! God had won many battles for them, battles in which they were woefully outnumbered! Jeremiah, to them, seemed a crazy traitor or wicked heretic.

 

Meanwhile, other men claiming to be prophets were telling the people exactly what they expected to hear - don't surrender, God will be with us, we will not fall to Babylon. God also told Jeremiah to call these "prophets" out, to expose their prophecies as lies. What an impossible task was set before Jeremiah!

 

In the past, I read Jeremiah's story and sympathized with him. I could see what an impossible situation he was in and how difficult it was for him to do what he was asked. But it was not until the COVID and vaccine era when I got a true taste of what Jeremiah went through and could actually empathize with him. When God has made something clear to you that is completely contrary to the prevailing narrative; when people you love are so influenced by lies that they refuse to listen to anything you have to say; when people have been so lured by comfort and complacency into a false sense of how God sees them; when they refuse to consider that they may be on the wrong path, and instead blame you for their suffering; and when others, especially those who hold themselves out as "experts," are claiming the opposite of what God has revealed to you, the emotional pain and frustration are overwhelming. The suffering is worse, in many ways, than physical pain. It is crushing. The only way to get through it is to keep doing what God is asking of you with His grace, which He gives in abundance.

 

Having lived through this terrible period, and knowing that more is coming, I will end with this: If someone you know to be a good person is telling you, or even just living like, things you believe to be true are lies, consider in good faith what they are saying and doing. Do not dismiss prophets telling you what you do not want to hear, especially if they are people you know and love, and who you know love you. And do not automatically trust people telling you what you want or expect to hear. God does not need to send prophets to do that.