I love Jeremiah...

Last night I was hurting. I hate hurting. haha. I crawled into bed and took out my Bible, which is my usual ritual, and started reading. I read some psalms and then a little bit of Isaiah, but nothing was giving me the comfort that I sought. Then I realized where in the Bible I was and that I was only one book away from Jeremiah. Jeremiah's my man. I love that book so much and God has comforted me so often while reading it. As soon as this realization dawned I flipped right to the first chapter and started reading, taking comfort in how God chose me and that though I may be young, I know God has such great plans for me. This thought took me to Jeremiah 29:11, my life verse. God has such plans for me and I cannot wait to see them come into focus as I continually seek God more and more with all of my heart. Through this perusal of Jeremiah, I came across a really touching devotional that I wanted to share. God has just layed this on my heart so I'm going to type it all out. I really hope that it touches you too or reveals something to you. :D
An Honest Heart- Jeremiah 20
Facing disappointment with God often means sorting through a tangled knot of emotions-anger, grief, rebellion, bewilderment. Such messy scenes may be permissible with a friend or spouse or even one of our children. But God? For him, we tend to make ourselves more presentable. It's easier to paste a smile on our face and pretend. To be honest with God at the level of disappointement seems a gutsy proposition.
There is at least one example in the Bible of someone whose spiritual struggle centered around feelings of betrayal. Jeremiah, who was drafted by God into a post as a prophet in Judah, knew that the task of being God's spokesman to a rebellious nation was no dream job. He knew he would encounter the wrath of kings and the dearf ear of his countrymen. But when a fellow priest named Pashhur had Jeremiah beaten and put into stocks, Jeremiah sank to an all-time low. He did not seem to be prepared for opposition from another "servant of God."
At that point, Jeremiah's story stops and we are given audience to a profoundly personal prayer, revealing a man struggling with the unexpected circumstances God had allowed in his life. "O Lord," Jeremiah says, "you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed." Jeremiah began to pray abou this confusion. He admitted the worst of it. "I feel betrayed, let down, angry and overcome," he said. On one level, he felt deceived by God, and on another he knew he had deceived himself. He made no attemp to sort it all out-he simply brought the whole tangled mess to the Lord. He counted on the strength of one whou could bear the weight of such honesty.
Gathering the courage to be honest, to stop running and hiding and pretending brings tremendous feedom. We come emptyhanded to the Lord, carrying nothing but an open heart, and God takes that honesty and transforms it into a kind of saving grace.

Jeremiah was beaten and thrown into prison for saying what God told him to say. Pashhur and Jeremiah were part of the same body and yet Pashhur had him thrown into the stocks and had him beaten. Sometimes it is the body that hurts us the most. That is why it is so important for us to listen to one another and ultimately to God. Things are not always easy for us, but we need to be honest with God about every feeling we are experiencing. Though He knows what is going on in our heads, it helps for Him to HEAR IT FROM US. We need to unload all of our feelings to Him, even if they are negatively about Him. God is truly our only saving grace. So lets be honest to Him and give it all up to "the healer of all the hurt we hold inside.".... :D

p.s. Lets not be Pashhurs.............

p.s.s I love God!