Reading your Bible for Today October 11

October 11: Jeremiah 12:1-6 

KJV Key Verse: Jeremiah 12:5
5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst , they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?

Devotion:
How many times have you got mad with someone for not living up to your expectations, and has that ever extended to God? I’m sure we have all seen how some people can get really mad with God because of what they see happening to them in their lives. Sometimes we may well feel very sorry for ourselves after we go through a rough patch, but what we don't tend to do is to look to the future in rough times. When we see things crumbling around us, we very rarely look into the future to see what good there is that lies ahead, instead we dwell on things happening here and now and allow ourselves to get bogged down in our frustrations.

Jeremiah was just the same as the rest of us in that he had his ups and downs too. But unlike most of us, he was able to listen to God with an open heart and an open mind. The Lord wanted him to record his frustrations as well as what He said so we may learn from Jeremiah's example.

We see people around us who will have nothing to do with God, apart from using His holy name as a swear word. We see people who try to do everything for themselves. We see people advertising about how to make a success of your life; but what we have to remember is they can only make that success last whilst they are allowed to by God and whilst they are here on earth. As soon as they move on, they lose everything they have worked so hard for – and then find out just how much they have lost in heaven because of their ways of unbelief on earth.

God allows us to face trials to make sure we are strong enough to face the next one ahead. He allows some people to have a seemingly successful life because they are working by themselves – they have nothing in the future, they are only worried about the here and now!

Points to Ponder:
Would you choose £10,000 now or £1 every hour for the rest of your life?

Do you allow God to teach you, or do you rebel?