Having a Bad Day at the Office? (Part 2)
by Gilly Mathiesen
Jeremiah seemed to be having a very bad day at the office in this passage. What is precious to note is that the Lord doesn’t get angry with Jeremiah. He listens to him, then gives him a solution in order to move forward. Jeremiah got bogged down by the attitudes and words of people round about him and the same can happen us at times. Critical and condemning words can wear us down. How did Jeremiah get out of his pit, and change his bad day to a good day at the office? Let’s see what advice the Lord gave him in Jeremiah 15:19.
This is how the LORD responds: “If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak good words rather than worthless ones, you will be my spokesman. You must influence them; (the people round about you) do not let them influence you!”
The Lord tells Jeremiah to speak good and worthy words rather than worthless ones, words which would breathe life into his situation rather than discouragement. And this is a good piece of advice worth implementing both in our own lives and also when relating to others.
Our precious heavenly Daddy does not get angry with us in our struggles. He wants to help us through. But what if we feel He is the one who has disappointed us, and we back away from Him in disappointment? What happens when our situation is ongoing for a long period of time? Our struggle can be from relentless pressure at home or at work, which can wear us down. It can be personal illness or someone close to us having a major crisis, or it could perhaps be as a result of a broken heart, which can drain our energy big time.
Loss of any description can be a pain-filled path which we need to walk through, talk through and cry through. God wants to walk with us through the valley of Achor (meaning trouble) and make it into a door of hope. ‘I will ... speak tenderly to her there. I will … transform the Valley of Trouble (Achor) into a gateway of hope’. He wants us to talk to Him and tell Him exactly how we feel, about ourselves, our circumstances, simply pouring out our hearts to Him. He can help rebuild our trust if it’s been broken and bring hope where there has been pain, speaking tenderly to us and transforming our valley into a place of hope.
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for the truth of Your word. Thank You that You want to bring hope to my situation and assure me of Your fatherly care. I surrender my expectations to You, and say “Let your will be done, not mine”, and ask You to be Lord over every circumstance in my life. Help me to encourage others when they are struggling and help me to speak Your words of life into every situation I encounter. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Gilly Mathiesen Gilly has a heart to see broken lives healed. She got involved in Christian ministry at a young age, working as a missionary for some years, as well as teaching at a Christian school. She has been involved with Ellel Ministries for the past 10 years and trained and worked on the team in Northern Ireland before moving to Denmark in 2016. She and her husband Steen have been pioneering an Ellel work there since early 2018. They long to see people healed and set free to be all that God has designed them to be.
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