I Doubt It! - Jeremiah 20 7 11 When God lets you down
At our house, our driveway has cracks. Not just little cracks, but the kind that invite weeds to grow. And no matter how much Roundup I spray, they keep coming back.
Here’s the thing: the weeds aren’t the real problem. They’re just the evidence. The real problem is that the driveway was installed incorrectly in the first place.
Faith works in a similar way. Doubt doesn’t cause cracks in our faith—it reveals them. And one of the biggest cracks doubt exposes is this: we often define God based on our circumstances instead of defining our circumstances based on God.
When life is good, we say “God is good.” But when life is hard, we’re tempted to believe God is less good—or maybe not good at all. That’s when doubt creeps in.
Have You Ever Felt Like God Let You Down?
If you’re honest, you probably have. Maybe you prayed for healing and it didn’t come. Maybe you begged God to restore a relationship, but it fell apart anyway. Maybe you asked God to show up in a desperate situation, and it felt like He didn’t.
You’re not alone in that feeling. Even Jesus, hanging on the cross, cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). And in Jeremiah 20, we see the prophet pouring out raw frustration, calling God a deceiver after being mocked, beaten, and ridiculed for faithfully speaking God’s words.
Jeremiah essentially says: “God, you tricked me. You abandoned me. You let me down.”
God’s Ways Are Not Our Ways
When our prayers seem unanswered, we wonder if God has failed us. But Isaiah 55 reminds us:
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways. For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
What we think makes sense often isn’t the way God chooses to work. And while that can feel painful and confusing, it also means His perspective is infinitely bigger than ours.
The Shift Jeremiah Made
Even in the middle of his anger and despair, Jeremiah turns a corner. In verse 11 he declares: “But the Lord is with me.”
That’s the key. When it feels like God has let us down, we must remember: God may allow seasons of pain, but He will never let us go.
Deuteronomy 31:6 promises: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Even when it feels like we’re abandoned, He is still present. Even when our circumstances are hard, His presence is steady.
Redefining How We See God
The challenge for us is this:
Stop defining God based on your circumstances.
Start defining your circumstances based on God.
David, in the valley of the shadow of death, declared: “I will not fear, for you are with me.”
Isaiah, surrounded by war, proclaimed: “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.”
Paul, writing from prison, said: “All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord.”
Their hope wasn’t grounded in shifting circumstances, but in the unchanging character of God.
A Question for You
What would it look like in your life to stop defining God by your circumstances—and instead define your circumstances by God?
When the weeds of doubt start to grow in the cracks of your faith, remember: the Lord is with you. You are not alone.
