Burning in Our Bones

[. . .] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth [. . .] (Philippians 2:10)

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.

When I speak, the words burst out.

“Violence and destruction!” I shout.

So these messages from the LORD

have made me a household joke.

But if I say I’ll never mention the LORD

or speak in his name,

his word burns in my heart like a fire.

It’s like a fire in my bones!

I am worn out trying to hold it in!

I can’t do it!

I have heard the many rumors about me.

They call me “The Man Who Lives in Terror.”

They threaten, “If you say anything, we will report it.”

Even my old friends are watching me,

waiting for a fatal slip.

“He will trap himself,” they say,

“and then we will get our revenge on him.”

But the LORD stands beside me like a great warrior.

Before him my persecutors will stumble.

They cannot defeat me.

They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated.

Their dishonor will never be forgotten.

O LORD of Heaven’s Armies,

you test those who are righteous,

and you examine the deepest thoughts and secrets.

Let me see your vengeance against them,

for I have committed my cause to you.

Sing to the LORD!

Praise the LORD!

For though I was poor and needy,

he rescued me from my oppressors. (Jeremiah 20:7–13 NLT)

Has God ever told you to do something you absolutely did not want to do? Yet you knew if you did not do it, you would feel the burning in your bones?

When I was in high school, God called me to be a missionary in Japan. I was ecstatic. I could not wait to get there. I always told people I was planning to stay in Japan until I retired, throwing in the line “unless God tells me to do something else” to sound more willing to do what God said.

I did not think God would ever call me to leave Japan before retirement. Was I surprised in 2023 when he did just that! I spent several months telling God why this was not a good idea. However, I knew this was the right thing for me, the right timing. Once I accepted God’s words, peace flooded my soul. At first, the burning in my bones was me trying to do my own thing. Then the burning in my bones became following after God’s heart.

In today’s passage, Jeremiah lays before God his struggles with God’s calling. He is mad at God for giving him hard words to say to Judah and for making it impossible for him not to do what God has called him to do.

Jeremiah is tired of being the laughingstock of Judah, even among his friends. He doesn’t want to say the hard words God has given him to say. He feels like God is using his strength to make Jeremiah do and say things he doesn’t want to do or say.

He also recognizes that he cannot not say the words God has given him. If he does not say the hard things God has given him to say, “his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones” (v. 9)!

Jeremiah recognizes God calls us to do and say hard things and, in that, God stands beside him, beside us, like a great warrior (v. 11). He recognizes God is the one who brings judgement and vengeance, so he says the word God gives him and then he waits for God to act.

In the last verse of today’s passage, Jeremiah praises God. He recognizes God’s redemption and rescue and praises him for it.

Jeremiah teaches us it is okay to express our true feelings to God. He also reminds us God is going to call us to do hard things we may not want to do. In the obedience, in bowing at the name of Jesus, we will experience God’s redemption and be led to praise the Lord for his rescue.

Lord, may we be faithful in speaking and acting when you lead us. May we recognize the difference between the burning in our bones that is our own desire and the burning in our bones that is your word bubbling up to be spoken boldly. Thank you for your faithful presence, redemption, and rescue. Amen.
 
 
Shan Reed is the NAB Director of Mobilization.