Being A Believer Requires Consistency…

One thing that’s been hard to accept as a believer is the irony of how the world treats you. On one hand, when a believer speaks truth the world doesn’t want to hear it. The world persecutes believers, shuns them, calls them names, and abandons them. And then when tragedy strikes, that same world now asks for prayer, asks for help, and seeks to listen to what the believer has to say. This proves one thing, man is fickle. You can’t depend on him, can’t trust him, and can’t confide in him. He will stab you in the back, and then ask for help while your bleeding to death. Jeremiah experienced this with the leaders of Judah. They threatened him to stop talking, punished him for continuing to talk, then asked for prayers from him, in hope that God would listen to him and rescue them from Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah kept speaking truth and Jerusalem was captured and exiled away. Understand that being a believer requires consistency regardless if everyone around you lives inconsistently. When you are mocked, abused, called haters, or told you have a phobia all because of your consistent alignment with God, remember your faithfulness to God will be rewarded. Part of that reward is the ability to endure illegitimate abuse when times are good, and false contrition when times are bad. A believers’ consistency, helps him endure regardless of the times. God’s grace is sufficient. Trust Him on this one.

1 The Lord spoke through Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to speak with him. They begged Jeremiah, 2 “Please speak to the Lord for us and ask Him to help us. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking Judah. Perhaps the Lord will be gracious and do a mighty miracle as He has done in the past. Perhaps He will force Nebuchadnezzar to withdraw his armies.”3 Jeremiah replied, “Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him, 4 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will make your weapons useless against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside your walls attacking you. In fact, I will bring your enemies right into the heart of this city. 5 I Myself will fight against you with a strong hand and a powerful arm, for I am very angry. You have made Me furious! 6 I will send a terrible plague upon this city, and both people and animals will die. 7 And after all that, says the Lord, I will hand over King Zedekiah, his staff, and everyone else in the city who survives the disease, war, and famine. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their other enemies. He will slaughter them and show them no mercy, pity, or compassion.’8 “Tell all the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Take your choice of life or death! 9 Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life! 10 For I have decided to bring disaster and not good upon this city, says the Lord. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will reduce it to ashes.’ Jeremiah 21:1-10