“If footmen tire you, what will horses do?”

Many, many years ago I heard a sermon entitled, “If footmen tire you, what will horses do?” I was intrigued by the question and headed straight to the Bible to see what it was all about. I found it in Jeremiah 12:5.

If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the swelling of Jordan?

After all these years, I am still intrigued by these questions. I have asked myself similar questions many times. If I am tired out by this small task, how will I fare when the work is harder? If I complain when I have a simple illness, what will I do if a serious illness attacks me? If I am brought low by the harsh words others say about me, how will I endure a complete betrayal?

I have been through each of these life circumstances. I read and read for a word of relief. It took me all the way to Jeremiah’s 15th chapter where I found this consolation in verse 20:

Though they fight against you,
They will not prevail over you;
For I am with you to save you
And deliver you, declares the Lord.
So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.

Life has knocked me flat plenty of times. I have experienced grief, failure, betrayal, sadness. I have seen things I never wanted to see. But no matter how many times I’ve been knocked down, I always, always get up.

I learned two lessons along the way:

Don’t sweat the small stuff.
In the end, God will be with you through it all.

That’s Gospel Good News!