Wipe Away the Tears
Jeremiah 31:16-17 But the LORD says, “Stop crying. Don’t fill your eyes with tears. You will be rewarded for your work.” This message is from the LORD. “The people of Israel will come back from their enemy’s land. Israel, there is hope for you.” This message is from the LORD. “Your children will come back to their own land.
It’s a cruel fact of life that you can be slaving away doing your very best, yet no one even notices – there’s no crowd cheering you on, no reward for your toil – not so much as a single word of encouragement from anybody.
Back when my business partners and I were running our IT consulting firm, there were times when we couldn’t draw a salary so our staff could be paid, and times when those ungrateful staff were difficult to manage and our clients didn’t appreciate our diligence and hard work.
It felt, at least during those difficult times, as though we were enslaved to our staff and clients without reward.
You’ve been there too, right? What a thankless task raising a family can be. Or when your boss takes all the credit for your work. Whatever it is that you do, there will be times when you feel unappreciated; times when there’s no apparent reward.
When Israel was in that place, this is what God said to them:
Jeremiah 31:16-17 … “Stop crying. Don’t fill your eyes with tears. You will be rewarded for your work.” This message is from the LORD. “The people of Israel will come back from their enemy’s land. Israel, there is hope for you.” This message is from the LORD. “Your children will come back to their own land.
Things may be tough now. You may well feel unappreciated, without reward. But God sees it all. He knows it all. He feels it all. And He has a plan, a good plan … a very good plan. Wipe away the tears. Hang in there.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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