An Internal Peace

Jeremiah 12:1-6 ~

You will be righteous, Lord,
even if I bring a case against you.
Yet, I wish to contend with you:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the treacherous live at ease?
You planted them, and they have taken root.
They have grown and produced fruit.
You are ever on their lips,
but far from their conscience.

As for you, Lord, you know me; you see me.
You test whether my heart is with you.

Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter
and set them apart for the day of killing.
How long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
Because of the evil of its residents,
animals and birds have been swept away,
for the people have said,
“He cannot see what our end will be.”

(The Lord responds:)

If you have raced with runners
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in a peaceful land,
what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
Even your brothers—your own father’s family—
even they were treacherous to you;
even they have cried out loudly after you.
Do not have confidence in them,

though they speak well of you.

There is much evil in this world and it seems to get worse with each passing day. If I watch the news and see what is going on around me, I can easily give in to depression and even despair. 

I was reading in Jeremiah this morning and came to these verses in chapter 12. The prophet Jeremiah is lamenting at the evil in the land and the fact that his people have rejected the message the Lord gave him to proclaim. He knows that they not only hate the message, but want to shoot the messenger!

What struck me in these verses was the Lord's response to Jeremiah's complaint. In verses 5 and 6 the Lord says, "If you can't handle a little pressure what will you do when worse comes?" And He also reminds Jeremiah not to put value in whether people approve of him or not, because people's favor is fickle.

Do we base our happiness on whether everything is going well in the world or in the approval of others? Do we look to money or position to give us a sense of security? Those things will eventually fail. If our internal peace is based on security then  we will fall apart when something bad happens. 

I was challenged this morning as I read because I know that I struggle with this at time. My internal peace is shattered if my family is struggling or I get hit with an unexpected bill or have to deal with some sort of conflict in relationships. Yet, my internal peace should come from being connected to the Lord. If I'm shaken by little things then I will fall apart when hard things happen. 

It was a good reminder to me this morning to make sure I'm not looking to the external to give me internal peace. The Lord sees my heart and knows whether I am trusting in Him or looking to my circumstances to give peace.