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Jeremiah 45:5 warns Baruch against seeking personal greatness for himself when God had called him to faithful service in a difficult season. The problem was not diligence or excellence, but self-exaltation and discontent with the place God had given him. That warning still speaks to our ambitions today. Read this material from Being Content God’s Way, view the book details and study resources, or watch the accompanying sermon to learn why God didn’t want Baruch (and us!) to seek great things, and what He wanted him (and us!) to seek instead.
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Before doctors administer a shot, they say, “Try to relax as much as possible. This will be worse if you resist.” The doctor tells you to accept what will happen because resisting worsens it. Elizabeth Elliot said something similar: “There is joy in acceptance.” We can’t change certain circumstances, and resisting worsens them; therefore, it is best to trust that God wants to use them for our good and His glory. This is what it means to choose contentment, and it can bring great peace. Conversely, refusing to be content, which is to say choosing discontentment, can bring severe turmoil and suck the joy out of life.
To some extent, all of us would say our lives are not exactly what we want. Maybe we wish we made more money, lived elsewhere, had a different job, or enjoyed a bigger house. If we are single, maybe we wish we were married. If we are married, maybe we wish our marriage was better. We all have something (or some things) we wish were different.
There is a man in scripture, Baruch, who wished his life was different. He was Jeremiah’s faithful scribe, and we can learn much from him.
Discontent Being Jeremiah’s Scribe
Baruch is one of the unsung heroes of the Old Testament. Jeremiah was the most despised man of his day, and throughout much of his ministry, Baruch was his only friend. Jeremiah faced rejection and persecution from his countrymen. Being the closest person to Jeremiah meant that when Jeremiah suffered, Baruch often did too. At one point, Baruch wanted something different for himself. The Lord learned of his discontentment and had the following words for him:
The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: You said, ‘Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.’ Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord: Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go” (Jeremiah 45:1-5).
Baruch was discouraged. The words “woe,” “pain,” “groaning,” and “find no rest” reveal that he suffered physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I hate to be critical of Baruch because I’m sure I would have been worse than him if I were in his situation, but he should have been content with his circumstances.
The phrase “the Lord has added sorrow” reveals that he attributed his suffering to God. How did God respond? Did He feel sorry for Baruch or apologize to him? No. Instead, He criticized Baruch for “[seeking] great things for [himself]” and told him to “seek them not.” This is the opposite of the Prosperity Gospel, Health and Wealth Doctrine, or Name-It-and-Claim-It Movement, which teaches people to “seek great things for [themselves].” In Joel Osteen’s New York Times best-selling book, Your Best Life Now, he writes:
God wants us to constantly be increasing, to be rising to new heights…God wants to increase you financially, by giving you promotions…God wants this to be the best time of your life. But if you are going to receive this favor, you must enlarge your vision. You can’t go around thinking negative, defeated, limiting thoughts. If you will keep the right attitude, God will take all your disappointments, broken dreams, the hurts and pains, and He will add up all the trouble and sorrow that’s been inflicted on you, and He will pay you back with twice as much peace, joy, happiness, and success…God wants to give you your own house. God has a big dream for your life.
Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential (FaithWords, 2004), 5, 31–32, 35.
If Baruch had Joel Osteen’s theology, he would be convinced that God wanted him to pursue something better for himself. But that could not have been further from the truth. God wanted Baruch to accept his current circumstances. Your Best Life Now was on the New York Times best-seller list for over two years and has sold over eight million copies. The popularity reveals how many people are deceived about God’s desires for them.
Why Didn’t God Want Baruch to Seek Great Things?
The Old Testament contains examples from which we can learn (1 Corinthians 10:6 and 11 and Romans 15:4). When we consider why God didn’t want Baruch to seek certain things, we can learn why God might not want us to seek certain things.
God Might not Want Us to Seek Things Because We Seek Them for Ourselves
God said Baruch “[sought] great things for [himself].” Because most people could not read or write in the ancient world, being a scribe was a respected and lucrative profession. More than likely, Baruch had high hopes for position, honor, and riches. He knew if he didn’t serve Jeremiah, he could have enjoyed a comfortable and perhaps even wealthy life.
Maybe we have felt this way at times. If so, we should remind ourselves that this life isn’t about accumulating “great things” for ourselves. James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” This was the case with Baruch, and God rebuked him for it. If we want something, and our motivation is to “spend it on [our] pleasures,” maybe God would rebuke us, too.
Motivation is one of the most important considerations when seeking something for ourselves. Why do we want it? Is it to be rich, famous, and powerful, or to serve Christ? In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” If our highest motivation is to “seek first the kingdom of God” rather than “seek great things for [ourselves],” we can be confident we have the right motivation.
God Might not Want Us to Seek Things Because They Won’t Last
God told Baruch He was going to “break down [what He] built, pluck up [what He] planted, [and] bring adversity on all flesh.” God didn’t want Baruch to seek great things because they wouldn’t last! God was going to destroy everything, but he told Baruch, “I will give your life to you as a prize.” Baruch would not get all the “great things” he wanted, but he would get to keep his life.
The same is true for us, not just physically but spiritually. Second Peter 3:10 (NKJV) says, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” The universe as we know it will not last, but we get to keep our lives: “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
God Might not Want Us to Seek Things Because They Aren’t Part of His Plan
Being Jeremiah’s scribe meant giving up great things Baruch wanted, but they might not have been selfish or immoral desires. Maybe he wanted marriage, children, and a normal life. These are part of God’s plan for most people, but they were not part of God’s plan for Baruch. Similarly, we might have desires that are not selfish or immoral and are part of God’s plan for others but aren’t part of God’s plan for us.
Because we have limited time and energy, saying “yes” to one thing means saying “no” to something else. Let me share an example from my life. I coached middle and high school wrestling during my first few years teaching elementary school. When I moved to Lemoore, California, I could only coach the middle school because the high school had a successful coach who had been inducted into the State Wrestling Hall of Fame. He had built an incredibly successful program, and the facilities were some of the best I had ever seen. You can imagine my excitement when the coach moved on to the collegiate level and invited me to take over the high school program for him. The difficulty was that two other things happened around the same time: I started getting more involved in my church, and Katie and I started discussing marriage.
The commitment to follow such a successful coach was huge. He built the program by investing his life in it. If I took over for him, I would be expected to do the same. I had to choose between coaching high school wrestling or marrying Katie and pursuing ministry. There is nothing wrong with coaching wrestling—I had done it for years earlier—but I could tell it was no longer part of God’s will for my life. Although coaching a top-tier wrestling program seemed like a “great thing” to me, I had to trade it for something that might not have looked great to others: serving in the church and having a family.
“Great Things” Often Aren’t That Great
Let me share two stories with you—one from my life and one from another pastor’s life. I had a fitness competition, Body-for-Life, on a pedestal for years. I thought winning this would change my life, open new doors, and be incredibly fulfilling. In 2003, I entered the competition and won. I was given prizes, including $25,000, magazine coverage, and a television interview from Good Day Sacramento. But soon after, I remember thinking, “My life is no different, and I am no happier.” I got what I thought would be a “great thing,” but it didn’t turn out to be great.
There was a little church in town. A new pastor (we’ll call him Brian) took over, changed the name, and the attendance exploded. They built a huge sanctuary, and it became the local mega-church. One day, I met with one of the church’s associate pastors, and he told me that Brian was struggling. That didn’t surprise me because I know pastoring is difficult. What surprised me was why he was struggling: “Brian is discouraged because the church has stopped growing.” If I had to devise a list of 100 reasons I thought Brian would be discouraged, church growth would not even make the list.
You don’t have to be a pastor to learn from this. Focusing on something that isn’t God’s will—wealth, fame, power, or church growth1—leads to discontentment (and often frustration) no matter how successful we seem in our pursuit. Biblical contentment is found in knowing what God wants us to do and striving to do it the best we can.
Seeking Great Things in God’s Eyes
Samuel the prophet was godly, but he made a mistake when he was sent to anoint David to replace Saul. Jesse’s sons stood before him, and 1 Samuel 16:6-7 records:
[Samuel] looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
When each son was rejected, “Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all the young men here?’ [Jesse] said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep’” (1 Samuel 16:11). God chose David, the son whose name Jesse didn’t even use, and who was not even invited to the anointing. Why? God sees things differently than man.
Consider Moses unleashing the plagues on Egypt, David killing Goliath, and Elijah defeating the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. God was pleased when these events occurred; they are some of our favorite accounts to read in Scripture. They look great in God’s eyes and man’s eyes. But this isn’t the case with every account. Some things that look great in God’s eyes—such as service, humility, and forgiveness—might look bad in man’s eyes. Conversely, some things that look great in man’s eyes—such as fame, riches, and power—are not great in God’s eyes, at least when they become idols or are used sinfully.
Baruch’s situation is another example. Being Jeremiah’s scribe looked bad in his eyes: it was unfulfilling and miserable to him. But in God’s eyes, he was doing a great thing. He wrote the very words of Scripture and served one of God’s faithful prophets! As we think about our lives, the question is never, “How does this look to man?” The question is, “How does this look to God?”
Let’s consider some people who sought great things in God’s eyes. They can help encourage us.
Moses Sought Great Things in God’s Eyes
Think about Moses’s example:
By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible (Hebrews 11:24-27).
Moses “[saw] Him who is invisible,” referring to God. This doesn’t make sense. We can’t see what’s invisible. But the beginning of the chapter, Hebrews 11:1, says, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Moses’s life was charted, but his faith in what he could not see led him to turn his back on Egypt and all it represented. He could have grown up in Pharaoh’s house with all that “the treasures of Egypt” afforded: luxury, fame, safety, and ease, but he “[chose] rather to be mistreated” and oppressed “with the people of God.”
Moses didn’t know Jesus as we do, but in identifying with the suffering of Christ’s people, the Hebrews, he identified with Christ Himself. He focused on the eternal. He had his eyes on heaven and was “looking to the reward.” Moses’s actions must have looked foolish in man’s eyes, but he did a great thing in God’s eyes.
Jonathan Sought Greatness in God’s Eyes
Saul’s son, Jonathan, grew up expecting to be the next king. Saul failed as king, but Jonathan was godly, ready to receive the throne and avoid repeating his father’s mistakes. He would never have been the king his father was and would have done the job his father should have done. But something happened. God said, “I want David to be king.”
The great thing Jonathan spent his life looking forward to was not going to happen. He could have gotten angry with God and said, “I have served You my whole life. I’m not like my father. Why are you punishing me for his sins?” Jonathan also could have gotten angry with David: “David was a shepherd. His father, Jesse, was a nobody. Why does he get to take the throne from me?” But if Jonathan were jealous of David, he would have been like his father, Saul. Instead:
The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt. [Jonathan] said to [David], “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that” (1 Samuel 18:1, 3-4, 23:17).
Jonathan experienced a major disappointment. It is difficult to spend your life looking forward to something and see it given to someone else. To obey God, he had to give up the great thing he wanted. Not only did he accept God’s will, but he also did everything he could to see it fulfilled.
Becoming the second king of Israel would have looked great in man’s eyes, and giving up the throne and helping David become king probably looked bad. As the saying goes, “Second place is first place’s loser.” But Jonathan did a great thing in God’s eyes.
John the Baptist Sought Greatness in God’s Eyes
John the Baptist’s example is similar to Jonathan’s. He had a large following. When Jesus’s public ministry began, some of John’s followers began following Jesus. John’s disciples, who continued following him, were concerned about this:
They said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!” John answered and said, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:26-30).
John the Baptist was to Jesus what Jonathan was to David. Jonathan knew that for David to increase, he had to decrease. John the Baptist knew that for Jesus to increase, he had to decrease.
John’s actions in deferring to Jesus looked poor to men. His disciples warned him that people were leaving him to follow Jesus. But John’s actions were so great that Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11).
Moses, Jonathan, and John the Baptist did great things in God’s eyes because they fulfilled God’s roles in their lives. Similarly, regardless of what anyone might think about what we are doing, the greatest thing we can do is fulfill God’s role for us. This is the case even if men despise the roles.
Content with Despised Roles that Please God
The Babylonians destroyed the temple when they conquered the Jews. The Jews rebuilt the temple decades later when they returned to the land. Some Jews saw Solomon’s temple before it was destroyed, went into exile in Babylon, lived through the exile, and returned to Jerusalem for the rebuilding. When they laid the foundation for the new temple, “Many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes” (Ezra 3:12). They wept because they thought the new temple would not compare with the previous temple. God rebuked them with two questions He asked through the prophets.
First, Haggai asked, “Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former” (Haggai 2:3, 9). The new temple was inferior to Solomon’s in man’s eyes, but it would be greater in God’s eyes.
Second, Zechariah asked, “Who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth” (Zechariah 4:10). This doesn’t mean God has seven eyes. Seven is the number of completion, so the eyes symbolize God’s complete knowledge, or omniscience, allowing Him to see “throughout the whole earth.” A “plumb line” is a builder’s tool, and God “rejoiced” to see it in the hand of Zerubbabel, the Jews’ leader. As the Jews rebuilt the temple, they “despised” it as a “day of small things,” but in God’s eyes, the work was great enough to cause Him to “rejoice.”
This applies because we might “despise” or be discontent with our roles. We think our days are spent doing “small things.” Our tasks and responsibilities seem insignificant. This can lead us to believe God is displeased with us. If this happens, we should encourage ourselves with Zechariah’s words to the Jews. God rejoices in our faithfulness in seemingly small things we do. We should not despise them because they aren’t small if they bring God joy. Great things are defined by God. If something pleases God, it is a “great thing.” When our greatest desire is pleasing God, no matter how things look in man’s eyes, we can be encouraged by how they look in God’s eyes.
Jesus said, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10). Our faithfulness in little (think despised!) things is important because it reveals that we can be faithful “in much” or great things. If we can’t be faithful with little, we will not suddenly become faithful if given more. When we give our children small tasks, if they don’t do those well, we don’t give them bigger tasks and expect them to do better. Likewise, when God, our Father, gives us His children tasks, He’s looking for faithfulness in small, despised things before He entrusts us with bigger tasks.
In the parable of the talents, the master commended the first two, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21, 23). Similarly, in the parable of the minas, the master said, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities” (Luke 19:17). In both parables, the master didn’t commend faithfulness over great things. Instead, He rewarded faithfulness over “very little” and “few things.” These small areas of faithfulness might have been despised by the servants throughout their earthly lives, but this is precisely what brought the master joy and earned the servants rewards.
