Daily Devotional For Thursday, August 6, 2026
Good morning Southside! Hope your day is one of joy in the Lord. Our daily devotional for today comes from Jeremiah 20:14-18:
“Yet I curse the day I was born! May no one celebrate the day of my birth. (15) I curse the messenger who told my father, “Good news—you have a son!” (16) Let him be destroyed like the cities of old that the LORD overthrew without mercy. Terrify him all day long with battle shouts, (17) because he did not kill me at birth. Oh, that I had died in my mother’s womb, that her body had been my grave! (18) Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame” (NLT).
This passage comes as a shock to any reader who is reading through the book of Jeremiah. Prior to this, Jeremiah has been totally obedient to the Lord with no complaints until we come to Jeremiah 20:7-28. What in the world happened? Did he hit his head to cause some kind of melt down? Is he schizophrenic, bi-polar, or mentally unstable here?
Jeremiah is us. We can be praising God one moment and then our situations change, we can quickly switch to complaining and self-pity. I feel for Jeremiah. No one likes to be the bearer of bad news and Jeremiah’s news has been unwanted by his own people. The people had turned to idols of Baal, Molech and Asherah. Worshipping Baal and Molech required infanticide – offering your new born baby to the pagan god by placing the baby in a fire on its altar as a living sacrifice. This is God’s point through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 19:5.
Some scholars think Jeremiah has become bitter. I do not think so based on the rest of the book. I think his words are bitter. We are like Jeremiah. When everything is good and going well, we trust the Lord. When things go south, our faith, trust and attitude can go south as well. We live in a sinful and evil world and unfortunately, bad things happen to godly people also. We are not shielded by the evil in this world, but we do have a Savior who has overcome it all.
In John 16 Jesus warned His disciples and us about how our lives would be marked with suffering for following Him. Why? The devil and his demons hate God the Father. They know they cannot do anything to hurt God directly, so they use a backdoor to do it. They choose to hurt God by hurting God’s children. If you are a parent, you understand this.
Reflection Assignment: Has suffering, bad news, personal attacks, hurt and disappointment affected your relationship to Christ in the past? How about the present? Read Jeremiah 20 and ask yourself, how am I like Jeremiah and what do I need to do to be different?
Scripture To Meditate On: John 16:33, Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, please forgive me when I am fickle and base my relationship with You on my circumstances. I really do not want to live this way. Help me to be different. I love Your Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly