Jeremiah Chapter 1 – Is God Using Me in My Ministry?

If we bring no one to Christ despite our best efforts, is God not using us?

If we serve the Lord and nothing seems to succeed, our life seems to be in shambles, does it mean that God is not with us?

I recently spoke with a friend from church who wondered if God wasn’t using him because he had “failed” to bring anyone to Christ. 

To this friend, the subpar output of his efforts meant his process was problematic. To him, because he saw no tangible fruit of his efforts, God was not with him or blessing his efforts.

Is this wholly true?

We can look at Jeremiah’s life to explore this. 

Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry might be classified, in men’s eyes, as a complete failure.

He was a priest and the son of the high priest then, Hilkiah (2 Kings 22:8; Jeremiah 1:1). Yet this did not make his ministry easier.

Jeremiah began his ministry in the 13^th year of King Josiah’s reign (Jeremiah 1:2). 

King Josiah had just cleansed the temple the year before, but he had yet to call for religious reform. He only does so 5 years later when Hilkiah discovers the Book of the Law (2 Kings 22:11-13, 2 Kings 23:3). 

Imagine, then, the horrible state of the people’s faith when Jeremiah began to serve. Even the head of state and the high priest did not have the details of God’s word near them.

At Jeremiah’s calling itself, the Lord declared: “Out of the north calamity shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.” (Jeremiah 1:14) Was his ministry doomed to be futile and useless?

Jeremiah was a weeping prophet, wishing “that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1). 

He wept often because his beloved community was not turning back to God. That God’s judgments would pass, despite his avid efforts to preach – despite his entire being dedicated to sharing God’s word.

We will see Jeremiah banned from going to the house of the Lord (Jeremiah 36:5); threatened with death for preaching (Jeremiah 11:19); beaten and restrained by someone who worked in the house of God (Jeremiah 20:2); and have a fellow, faithful prophet be killed (Jeremiah 26:20-23).

He would see King Zedekiah make a promise to keep one of God’s law – some success, it seems? – then turn back entirely and disobey God (Jeremiah 34:8-11). The disappointment!

Jeremiah would live in a Jerusalem surrounded and besieged by the mighty armies of Babylon. He would endure its famine, and see all the houses of Jerusalem burned (2 Kings 25:1-3, 9). Finally, he would be taken against his will to Egypt, despite telling the remnant that God did NOT want them to go to Egypt (Jeremiah 43:4-7).

Those Jeremiah preached to constantly went against God’s message. Jeremiah also endured and lived through God’s punishment upon His people too.

Talk about what seems like a lack of success! 

Perhaps for us we have strived to share the gospel and invite our loved ones and neighbours to church, but nobody has accepted our invitation. 

It is disappointing. But let us grow strong! Let us take heart. Unlike Jesus, we have yet to even resist to the point of shedding any blood (Hebrews 12:4). 

One thing is clear.

Despite all this “failure”, God was with Jeremiah. 

In Jeremiah 1, God declared resoundingly to him, “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you to deliver you.” (Jeremiah 1:19)

Despite the “failures” he had, Jeremiah was irrevocably chosen and used by God. 

God knew what outcome his ministry would have, how nobody would listen, but still God had chosen him: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

What do all these mean to us who want to be used by God? 

First, we must remember that the outcome is not the sole determiner of the effectiveness of our ministry. 

What is important to God is this truth: 

That we be cleansed from dishonor to be useful to God, prepared for every good work; that we who receive the Holy Spirit are sent by Him (2 Timothy 2:21; John 20:21-23).

Useful how? Sent to do what? The Lord calls us to plant and water. He calls us to pastor and preach, to make disciples.

Then the growth is from Him, for God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

Aligning our actions to God’s heart means preaching to the souls He has placed around us, that they have a chance to find Him (Acts 17:26-27).

It is Jesus’ heart that we go. It is His heart that we teach. It is His heart’s desire for everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4).

When we do this, Jesus has promised that He is with us. Always.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

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