Jeremiah 1:11-19  “What do you see”?  This is the opening question that God asks Jeremiah after he’d touched his mouth and anointed him with his Word.  God is preparing Jeremiah to go to the Israelites and speak some major truth into their lives.  You gotta know that Jeremiah is feeling a little inadequate and a bit afraid even if he was in awe of this amazing conversation he’s having with the Maker of the Universe.

True to the God who knows every thought we have even before we perceive it in our own head, God lets him know what else He’s given Jeremiah:

“Get yourself ready!  …Do not be afraid of them… today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land – against the kings of Judah, its officials, it’s priests and the people of the land.  They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord.”  v17-19

Jeremiah was looking down a dark tunnel filled with powerful kings, influential priests and an army of people that weren’t going to like the truth and judgement he was about to lay on them.  Get this picture:  one guy against hundreds of thousands of people with lots of resources, power and human-guided manipulation.

Have you ever been up against someone or something that you just didn’t feel you could possible stand against?  A mountain too big or a storm too violent to survive through?  I have… in the midst of it, you begin by using your own skills and resources to make it through.  You might read some clever self-help books to gain more insight or direction (because when you’re in a storm your first reaction is simply to get through it, survival), or talk to well-meaning friends who will usually feed your fear and tell you to keep treading water until the storm has pasted.  A storm or mountain faced without the proper equipment never ends well, usually ends fatally.

God tells Jeremiah not to be afraid, yep these people are going to fight you (verse 19), but I’ve hemmed you in with MY power (fortified city), I have made you strong (iron pillar) and I’ve given you My Word (bronze wall: judgement).

Ezekiel 3:8-9 says, “I will make you unyielding and hardened as they are.  I will make your forehead like the hardened stone, harder than flint.”  As hard and tough as some people or situations can appear in our life, even those that seem like impossible situations or relationships, God equips us with an even harder, tougher and stronger countenance to reach them.  He never asks us to go up against a giant alone, He equips us with the power of the Holy Spirit which is the same power and might that raised Christ from the dead.

I didn’t rely on that power the entire time I went through my storm~ I believe God was speaking to me and telling me how to navigate with Him, but I choose many times to weather the storm floating on my measly, pathetic piece of broken life raft rather than the strong, fortified and trustworthy cruise ship He had available for me to not just weather the storm, but to face it head on.

1 Corinthians 1:5 says that we “do not lack any spiritual gift…”, God has given us everything we need to face our storms ~ he will make us stronger than our strongest opponent.  That’s some good stuff right there!