Have you ever been a situation where you were tired or frustrated or struggling, and you just wanted to vent about it? We've all done that from time to time, and usually we do it so we can get acknowledgement that our struggle is real. That life really is hard. And sometimes we're hoping that someone will assure us that things will be better, they'll get easier.

That’s what I think about a little when I read a story in Jeremiah 12. Jeremiah has been prophesying to God’s people for years, with no response, no repentance, no indication that he was accomplishing anything. And in fact, the people he was trying to save were threatening his life. They were contradicting him, turning people against him. And all the while Jeremiah could see the end that awaited them.

And he asks “Why does the wicked prosper?” When are you going to punish these people for the evil they’re committing? 

God's response in v. 5 is: “If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?"

In other words: if you're complaining about how bad it is now, how will you respond when it gets even worse?

God doesn’t sugar coat things for him, doesn’t set false expectations - any more than Jeremiah is allowed to set false expectations for the people.

We look around the world and see the ungodliness increasing, and the persecutions of Christians increasing, and the negative attitudes that we have to prepare for any time we talk about the commitment and the virtue and the sacrifice required in serving God. Maybe it's just about the hardship in our own lives that we're going through that may not be directly related to our service to God, but the ongoing hardships we face make it harder for us to focus on the blessings we have in Christ. Wouldn't it be great to hear "this is the worst of it. If you get past this, everything will get better?"

 And God tells us the truth, and His message over and over seems to be that we need to be prepared for the idea that at least on earth, there's no promise of an easy life.

That’s not stay that we are left to deal with hardship and persecution on our own, or that we'll never get a rest or a respite.  As hard as Jesus worked, he still called for his disciples to rest from time to time, as he did himself.

And if sometimes it seems like God is challenging more than providing rest, it's because He’s encouraging you to keep going, as we read in Hebrews: 

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."

No one in that cloud of witnesses is cheering you on from the side of the race course saying "it's ok, the race gets easier in the next mile." They're encouraging you to keep going even if it gets harder. Because quitting isn’t an option - not when we know what Jesus has done for us, and what he has waiting for us if we make it to the end. James tells us to count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” If we can get through this trial, we’ll have strength to get through the next one, too.