In the words of Jeremiah today we hear of one man’s struggle to believe God’s promise to stand by him because his efforts to respond to God’s call result in strife and contention. Suffering aloneness can open awareness of God’ great love for us.
Yesterday we heard words about Martha’s complaining to her dinner guest, Jesus, about all the work she had to do. Today we witness Jeremiah’s complaining about the consequences of the prophet’s mission entrusted to him. Words that once were a source of confidence and satisfaction had become a thorn in the people’s hearts and great unrest in his soul. He was suddenly standing in a "treacherous brook." Of course he, like Martha, complains to the one who has a special relationship to him.
God replied to the prophet’s complaints. He called him to repentance because of his lack of trust: "Repent. I shall restore you and you will become like a brass wall." Return and I will be with you is the promise.
Who is there who does not run into feeling abandoned by friends or by God? Events or the words or actions of friends and loved one’s might overwhelm us. Indeed there may be a time when God seems to have gone out of our existence. Isn’t it the natural reaction in such moments to abandon those friends, loved one and even God? We are hurt because we feel the painful loss of a genuine support.
In such moments we are tested. In those painful times we are challenged to examine our hearts. So often these moments are a sign that we have become distracted. The late Fr. Henri Nouwen’s words give us a solution. "The mystery of God’s presence can only be touched by a deep awareness of his absence. It is in the center of our longing for the absent God that we discover his footprints, and realize that our desire to love God is bring out of the love with which he has touched us (Words of Hope and Healing, p 9).
Like Martha and Jeremiah, we, in our feeling of aloneness we have an opportunity to experience the reality of God’s love for us.
