Fire in the Bones

Jeremiah tries to stop prophesying because people mock him and his message brings shame. But he says it's like a fire in his bones. He can't not speak. The word is too powerful to suppress.

There's something beautiful and terrible about this. Jeremiah doesn't want to be a prophet. He wants the preaching to stop. But he's been seized by God's word in a way that won't let him go quiet. He's tried to contain it. It burns him up.

I wonder how many of us are suppressing something that burns in us because it would be inconvenient or uncomfortable to speak. We stay silent to avoid judgment. We avoid hard conversations to maintain peace. But sometimes there are truths that deserve saying, needs that deserve naming, and the cost of silence is actually higher than the cost of speaking. Jeremiah's burning up trying not to speak. That fire is telling him something about his actual calling.