About to Burst!
Jeremiah 20: 9 “But if I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”
Have you ever tried not to laugh? I mean, really tried not to laugh in the face of something so funny? Like when a child says something in all seriousness that, to us, is just hilarious. You can’t laugh because you’d hurt the child’s feelings, so you hold it in. Can you feel the laughter welling up inside, nearly bursting through your teeth? Hold on to that feeling.
How about when you’ve been drinking a lot of tea or coffee or water and you’re standing in line at the check out. Nature takes its course and soon you feel another kind of pressure. It starts out as irritating but soon it becomes down right painful to hold shut the flood gates. I know you’d rather not, but hold onto that feeling, too.
The prophet, Jeremiah, is facing torture and ridicule. He’s been put in the stocks and beaten. He’s on public display and I’m sure people are throwing more than insults at him. The reason he’s there is because he has been speaking God’s word in public. That’s a prophet’s job. To save his skin, all he needs to do is stop talking. Just don’t say a word, hold it in. But he says that he’s tried to hold it in, to not speak God’s word. The result is a fire burning in his bones. It’s a pressure cooker, ready to explode. It’s like standing at the checkout line with an over-full bladder. Resistance to the pressure is futile.
The fire of God’s word burns inside with such intensity that even when he tries to hold it in, he grows tired and cannot keep it up. God’s word is like that. Sometimes it sits quietly in our souls and percolates. Then, when the opportunity arises, so does His word. Perhaps a friend mentions a problem she’s having. There’s a rumble deep inside of you and soon, God’s word, maybe a verse from Scripture, lands on your tongue. Do you clench your teeth? Do you bite your tongue? Do you hold it in? How much energy do you use tightening muscles to keep God’s word from escaping your lips?
Let it go and speak it. Like Jeremiah, you can’t hold it in forever. And why would you want to? When the promises and reassurance of God’s grace are so wonderful, why would you hold it in? Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 1:8, “so do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord…But join with me in suffering for the Gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life- not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.” Speak the word of God that is on your tongue and don’t be ashamed of it. Laugh out loud and then run to the restroom!
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