I’ve been reading in the book of Jeremiah in my Bible reading lately, and that man went through quite a bit. God called Jeremiah to be a prophet to people who wouldn’t listen to him, and said as much to Jeremiah. God also assured Jeremiah He would be with him through it all, that Jeremiah shouldn’t be afraid of those speaking against him, and that He would make Jeremiah like a wall, but that didn’t mean that Jeremiah wouldn’t have some suffering. In fact, Jeremiah had a lot of suffering because God was with him and because he was doing what God said.
Throughout the book of Jeremiah we see the prophet going back and forth between emotions, and for understandable reasons. He told people exactly what God wanted them to know, and they got upset and tried to slander and imprison him. Maybe Jeremiah just wanted everyone to either listen to God or get captured by the enemy already. Jeremiah felt tricked by God (Jeremiah 20:7), felt like he should quit telling God’s words to people who weren’t listening anyway (Jeremiah 20:8-9), and he complained directly to God about the way people were treating him (Jeremiah 18:19-23). At the same time, Jeremiah felt sorry for his people and wished they would listen so God wouldn’t have to punish them, and reminded himself that even though things are hard, God is still God and He is still here (Jeremiah 20:10-13).
When God calls us to do things He also equips us for them, but that doesn’t mean that these things won’t be difficult. But just because things are difficult doesn’t mean that God has left us. Sometimes difficulty is how you know God is still right there.
Related:
An Honest Prayer – Jeremiah
The Consequences of Doing God’s Will
Struggling with Expecting God’s Goodness
Good in the End
If God Is Good, Then Why Is There Evil?
Notes on Suffering
A Bit on Suffering