“Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honour Me I will honour, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.”
Question: How can God bless His work?

‘Chariots of Fire’ movie

This verse is quoted in the movie “Chariots of Fire”, where God’s honour is shown publicly by worldly acclaim, with the winning of gold medals at the Olympics.
But in my experience of life, acclaim is often given to the wrong people! Even in churches, people often have the wrong understanding of events.

Jeremiah

This reminds me of the story of Jeremiah, who was obedient to God, and followed his commands all his life, and for that he received hardship, suffering, and sometimes torture.
His role was to proclaim God’s warnings to Judah, that their persistent idolatry would lead to their destruction. As a result, he spent most of his time in prison or house arrest. And in Jeremiah 38:6 there is a vivid picture of him, as a consequence of proclaiming what God told him to say, being placed in an underground cistern full of mud, in total darkness, in which it seems he sank to his shoulders and was there so long that his body became waterlogged (38:12).

Jeremiah had a different take to what the movie had for our verse. In 12:1, he asks of God, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?”
And in 15:18, “Why is my pain perpetual And my wound incurable, Which refuses to be healed?”

Honour

Looking in the dictionary for the meaning of “honour”, I found:

• Regard with great respect – God will regard the faithful with great respect, even if the world does not;
• Keep an agreement – God will bless us according to His promises;
• Knowing and doing what is morally right – as we honour God by doing His righteous commands, He will also be faithful and righteous to us.

So, being honoured by God does not imply receiving any recognition or acclaim. On the contrary, God’s promises to Jeremiah were honoured as Jeremiah, who was timid by nature (1:6), was made strong and courageous (1:18), and able to stand against the kings, princes, priests, and people of Judah.
There was no comfort or relief for Jeremiah; Jewish tradition has it that after fleeing to Egypt he was put to death by being stoned.

Honour for our obedience?

How might we expect God to honour our faithful obedience and ministry?
Some ideas, based on the experience of Jeremiah:

• Being given the vision to do even more than we think we can handle;
• Given mental clarity to speak the truth simply;
• Given the strength to endure even more hostility;
• Being given words that challenge people to turn to him, instead of comforting them with their preferred outlook.

Although Jeremiah never saw a positive response in his earthly life, his name is now acclaimed for his faithful obedience to God. Our merciful God used Jeremiah to offer the people of Judah every last opportunity to repent, until they were eventually exiled.

I am grateful to God for giving encouragement through the guidance of fellow Christians. But I pray I will not be led by the hope of human praise, but only as God shows me the path He has prepared for me, and that He will provide the strength and all that is needed to follow that path.