Jeremiah 15:10
“Unlucky mother—that you had me as a son, given the unhappy job of indicting the whole country! I’ve never hurt or harmed a soul, yet everyone is out to get me. But, GOD knows, I’ve done everything I could to help them, prayed for them and against their enemies. I’ve always been on their side, trying to stave off disaster. God knows how I’ve tried!”
“Then I said, “What sorrow is mine, my mother. Oh, that I had died at birth! I am hated everywhere I go. I am neither a lender who threatens to foreclose nor a borrower who refuses to pay - yet they all curse me.””
Men who are tired of Jeremiah’s messages seek to end his life and Jeremiah cries out. God saw what no one else did, Jeremiah’s heart and promised protection in the following verses. (I am grateful for Peterson’s clarification of this Hebrew idiom about lending and borrowing.) Do not look to people around us for validation. They can’t see inside. But God knows our efforts and intentions and he is the only one that matters.
Lord, thank you for healing me of the need for approval. I still return to that bondage now and then and you are faithful to pull me back. May I ever look to you for validation and direction. You alone are my only hope and I trust you.