Saturday, January 10, 2015

Be not afraid of their faces


Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord….
Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. (Jeremiah 1:8, 17)

As part of the Sunday school lesson a few months ago in the reading of Jeremiah I noticed there were two repetitions of this idea that Jeremiah was not to be dismayed or afraid of the faces of his people.

What does this mean?  What is so scary about their faces?

I realized Jeremiah was worried about how the people would respond to his words, and he was very sensitive to the expressions on people’s faces as an indicator of how they were receiving (or rejecting) his message.  Since his people were very wicked, their response would be opposite of what it should be, and if he was to go by their response, he would be quickly silenced.

We likewise should not be afraid of people’s facial expressions as we share truths.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

This is such a powerful message! I'm totally guilty of leaving important points unsaid because I was afraid of what others might think. I love that the scripture says that we don't have to be scared because God will stand by us. I really needed this reminder today. Thank you for sharing!

Sarah
www.sprinklesonmyicecream.blogspot.com

Michaela Stephens said...

You're welcome, Sarah!