Dear Friends,
Who hasn’t had difficult
people in their lives? How many of us
have come unglued when called to work with someone who drives us crazy? Some people find it really hard to work with
people! They would rather fly solo and
be their own boss. Perhaps they have a
difficult personality, hold strong opinions, can’t delegate, or feel they need
to do everything themselves. I don’t
know how Jeremiah and Baruch felt about working with other people, but I do
know that God had a partnership in mind for both of them. Among other things, He has companionship and
mutual encouragement in mind. “It is not
good for the man (or woman) to be
alone” (Gen. 2:18).
In marriage you have a choice
about the one with whom you will spend the rest of your life. In ministry, however, other people often
choose our partners for us. The church
gives us our colleagues. And so often it
seems that the church would be a fun place except for the people in it! How often does the women’s ministry place two
women who can’t abide each other together on committee? How often do the elders call a new member to
the staff without checking with the rest of the team? And whether we choose our partners or not, it
is in both marriage and ministry that Satan sees his chance to work a whole lot
of mischief. He knows if he can’t get us
from outside the camp, he will get us from inside.
Edinburgh castle in Scotland
had never been captured in its history until a traitor let down the drawbridge
from within and the enemy ran amok. So
it is with us. Satan works with the
enemy within us – our old nature – to bring us down. We need to learn not to let the drawbridge down! He knows very well that strong personalities
clash. He is the father of dissension.
They say that opposites
attract. It was certainly true in
Stuart’s and my case. My husband is laid
back, and I am habitually uptight. He is
full of fun whereas I have to enter “Have fun – Thursday” on my schedule, or it
doesn’t happen! He is very precise where
details are concerned while I am a dreamer and love to exaggerate. Opposites do indeed attract, but give the
marriage time, and opposites begin to irritate!
If this is true in marriage, it is all the more true where strangers are
put together in ministry, and if it is true in our time, then it was certainly
true in Bible times.
In the New Testament, Paul
and Barnabas had their disagreements.
They had a falling out over giving young John Mark another chance after
he had let them down on a missionary journey (Acts 15:37-40). And look at Jeremiah and Baruch in the Old
Testament. Jeremiah’s temperament is
legendary, for he has gone down in history as “the weeping prophet”. All who knew him said he was a melancholy
individual. Whether he started off life
this way or not, we don’t know. By the
time he linked up with Baruch, he had wept his way through not a few laments
and was well on his way to earning his reputation of weeping. It could be that life in all its harshness
caused the sadness in his soul, or he may have just been made that way.
Our oldest son, David, was
not an early talker. When he did utter
his first words, however, they were clear and concise: “oh dear,” he sighed! Guess who he had been hanging around – his
mother! David’s sober side surfaced first,
and we discovered that he was certainly influenced by his mother’s moans and
groans. (I am melancholy too!) His temperament was a truly serious one. God had given him his personality.
Baruch, on the other hand,
was named “Blessed.” Let us presume the
name speaks for his character or personality.
God, having a wry sense of humor, put this weeping prophet and blessed
scribe together. We could call them
“Weepy” and “Happy”. God told them: “Just do it, and do it together!” Now that was quite a challenge. There is no doubt that the two men had little
in common but the Lord, but that was quite enough to make their partnership
work.
Did Baruch, the meticulous
scribe, and Jeremiah, the mystical dreamer, ever struggle with putting it all
together? You can be certain that they
did. But they found their common ground,
compromised where necessary, and celebrated their differences with God’s help
and so can you!
Blessings,
Jill Briscoe
Executive Editor
Just Between Us Magazine
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