Perseverance

God challenged Jeremiah regarding faithfulness and perseverance. (12:5). Jeremiah questioned God about the prosperity of the wicked. God responded by challenging Jeremiah's faith. He does that to me, too. I complain, he says the problem is you, Larry. God says, if you cannot trust and persevere in easy times, how can you do it in hard times? It particularly struck me that he noted Jeremiah was having trouble trusting in a safe land. No one lives in a safer land that we do regarding the practice of our faith. Yet, many doubt or question God when a problem arises or the country itself is going in the wrong direction. Israel went terribly wrong. America is, in many ways, going wrong. But our job is to trust that the sovereign God knows what is best and will accomplish his will as pleases him. Then, based on that faith, persevere in the faith and do the work he sent us to do.