THE WAY OF SENSITIVITY

Jeremiah 15:16 (NIV): “When your words came, I [Jeremiah] ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.”

Perhaps the two most emotional books in the Bible are both authored by Jeremiah. Forbidden by God to marry and have children, he had an especially tough calling as a prophet and no one with whom to share life but the Lord. God in His great mercy foresaw the terrible conditions that would come upon the land. In His deep compassion, He spared Jeremiah the added emotional stress and personal heartache of taking care of a family in such dire conditions.

Known as the “weeping prophet,” Jeremiah was God’s spokesman to the southern kingdom of Judah before the imploding nation ultimately fell to Babylon and was led into captivity. God sent Jeremiah to warn the people of their impending demise—a warning they did not heed. His descriptions of the awful consequences of Judah’s decades of disregard for God are heart-rending in the book of Lamentations. But the emotionally dark verbal valleys are punctuated with prophetic pronouncements of hope like Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV), “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

We can learn much from the example of Jeremiah of Biblical Fatherhood regarding the way of sensitivity. Like Jeremiah with Judah, they are willing to speak up—warning and disciplining their children when they’ve lost their way. They provide a meaningful touch and the verbal affirmation of who God is in the midst of dark valleys. And they have deep compassion for people around them going through hard seasons. They are sensitive, reminding them of God’s promise in Jeremiah 24:7 NIV, “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.”

Today, pray out loud Jeremiah 24:7—make it your own. Ask God to give you a heart to know Him, and to model the way of sensitivity in every room you enter.