AN IRONIC RELATIONSHIP

“’Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’”
Jeremiah 1:5

Irony is defined as the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of a literal meaning. The essential feature of irony has to do with the indirect presentation of a contradiction between an action of expression and the context in which it occurs. (Just then I sounded smart). Irony, however, is also able to take on a variety of types, ranging from comic irony, to Socratic irony, to dramatic irony, all based simply on the conversation and the way in which it is delivered. An example of irony that may be easy to identify was spoken years ago by William Zinsser who said, “It is a fitting irony that under Richard Nixon, launder became a dirty word.” While I chuckle at that comment, there is another ironic statement I read recently that did not make me laugh.
I have begun to realize that God is all about relationships. In a way, I knew this, but something about it is becoming clearer still. The Bible is a non-fiction story about a God who wants relationship. He first had that with Adam and Eve, then later with Abraham, then Moses, then the many believers in Him that followed. And now, you and I get to make that same choice of whether we will follow after God and have relationship with Him, or deny Him. For our eternal sake, I do pray we make the choice to follow after Him.
But in reading this verse in Jeremiah 1:5, I cannot help but ask myself a few questions. To set the stage, God has just called Jeremiah to be a prophet. Now although Jeremiah was just catching wind of this, God had already made this choice and given this blessing to him years before. Before people began doing ultrasounds and photos of the baby inside the womb, God was already taking snapshots of the baby, and calling forth His mission for that child’s life. So here, when the time was right, God spoke forth to Jeremiah exactly who he was called to be. In fact, even when Jeremiah questioned the calling in relation to his age, God said, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you” (Jer 1:9).
I read this portion and I do not see God as forcing Jeremiah to do this task because I know that God allows us all to practice freewill. But on the flipside, I also believe that God has a destiny for each one of us. Whether we chose to walk in it or not, well that is the freewill I was talking about. In this case, Jeremiah embraced the destiny God had for him. To Jeremiah it was clear; God spoke audibly and said he would be a prophet. Yet when God talks to you, is it as clear? Some may answer yes and know exactly what they are called to, and others may say no and still be searching. Despite which one you are, there is one commonality between Jeremiah, you, and me. We all need to stay in relationship with Him.
We are helpless without God, and He knows it. That is why He made a way to retrieve the relationship with us that at one time had been cut off by sin. But read these words penned by Francis Chan, and tell me they do not describe us. “The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time.” First, is this not an illustration of irony? Yet more important, is this not true of us? How can we have a relationship with God, something desperately needed, if our actions say to God we could care less? God doesn’t need us but He wants us. We need God, but we hardly even step out toward Him. This is an ironic relationship, one I see in my own life at times. God has called me to a relationship with Him, and called me out with a mission, yet I still struggle in meeting up with Him, blaming it on a busy schedule knowing full well I’ll spend many hours doing something that is not eternal. I’m not trying to get you down, but trying to get you to think. As much as we need God, are we seeking Him?