There is something almost ironic about Jeremiah 37–43.
Again and again, people who would not listen to God still wanted Jeremiah to pray to God for them. Kings secretly sought his counsel. Leaders asked him to inquire of the Lord. A remnant even promised, “Whether we like it or not, we will obey.”
Yet when God’s answer required something uncomfortable, fear became louder than His voice.
Reading these chapters reminded me that wanting God to speak is not necessarily the same thing as being willing to obey what He says.
And perhaps that is one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves: Do I want God’s direction, or do I want God to confirm the direction I have already chosen?
You Can Ask God and Still Refuse to Listen
Jeremiah 42:2–7 — “Show us what to do and where to go.”
After Jerusalem fell and Gedaliah was killed, the remaining people were terrified. They approached Jeremiah and asked him to pray:
“Pray that the Lord your God will show us what to do and where to go.”
They even promised that whether they liked God’s answer or not, they would obey.
Then came something else that stood out to me: God did not answer immediately.
Jeremiah 42:7 says, “Ten days later the Lord gave his reply to Jeremiah.”
They were afraid. Their situation felt urgent. Egypt probably looked like the obvious place of safety.
Yet God made them wait.
There are seasons when waiting itself becomes part of our obedience. We may want immediate clarity about a business decision, relationship, health concern, next step, opportunity, or purpose. But sometimes God does not answer according to the urgency we feel.
And when He finally speaks, His answer may not look like the safest option.
Sometimes God Tells You to Stay Where You Want to Run From
Jeremiah 42:10–12 — “Stay here in this land.”
God’s instruction was clear:
Stay.
He promised:
“I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you.”
What an incredible promise to a people standing among ruins.
Judah looked unsafe. Egypt looked secure. But God was essentially telling them: Your security is not in geography. Your security is in My presence and your obedience.
I find this deeply relevant in seasons of rebuilding.
Sometimes we assume rebuilding means escaping everything associated with a painful season. We want a new environment, new strategy, new relationship, new business model, new opportunity—anything that feels different from where things went wrong.
But sometimes God says, Stay. Let Me rebuild you here.
The place that looks barren may actually be the place where God intends to plant you.
Fear Can Make Us Reject the Answer We Prayed For
Jeremiah 43:4, 7 — They refused to obey.
Despite everything they had promised, Johanan, the military leaders, and the people refused God’s instruction and went to Egypt.
Why?
Jeremiah 41:18 gives us an important clue:
“They were afraid of what the Babylonians would do…”
Fear had already decided where they wanted to go before they asked God where they should go.
That convicted me.
We can do the same thing today.
We pray, ask for counsel, read Scripture, seek confirmation—and then when God’s answer conflicts with our fear, preferences, timeline, comfort, finances, ambitions, or expectations, we begin looking for reasons why what we heard cannot possibly be God.
Sometimes what we call “confusion” may actually be resistance.
What You Run From Outside God’s Will May Meet You There
Jeremiah 42:15–17, 22 — The thing they feared followed them.
God gave them a sobering warning. If they fled to Egypt to escape war and famine, the very things they feared would find them there.
That is powerful.
They were running toward Egypt because they believed Egypt could protect them from Babylon. Yet God pronounced judgment there too.
They could change their location, but they could not outrun the consequences of disobedience.
I can relate to the temptation to move quickly when something feels frightening or uncertain. But these chapters remind me that yielding to fear will never produce the security that obedience produces.
Sometimes God’s instruction feels harder in the short term but safer in the long term.
Running may provide temporary relief, but if God has said stay, peace will not ultimately be found in Egypt.
Whether in business, marriage, leadership, purpose, finances, community, or personal decisions, it is better to obey an uncomfortable instruction from God than manufacture safety outside His will.
Hearing the Truth Is Different From Being Ready to Receive It
Jeremiah 38:15 — “You wouldn’t pay any attention anyway.”
King Zedekiah wanted Jeremiah to tell him the truth, but Jeremiah knew the pattern.
“If I told you the whole truth, you’d kill me. And no matter what I said, you wouldn’t pay any attention anyway.”
Imagine repeatedly asking God for direction while continually ignoring what He says.
Zedekiah’s problem was not lack of access to God’s word. His problem was his response to it.
That challenges me to examine my own prayers.
When I say, “Lord, speak to me,” am I genuinely surrendered?
Or have I already decided what an acceptable answer looks like?
There is little benefit in constantly seeking another prophetic word, another sermon, another confirmation, another conversation, or another sign when God has already made the next step clear.
Sometimes spiritual maturity looks less like receiving another revelation and more like obeying the last instruction.
Be Careful Whose Voice Becomes Louder Than God’s
Jeremiah 38:20, 22 — The danger of wrong counsel
Jeremiah pleaded with Zedekiah to obey God because it was for his own good.
But the king was afraid.
Jeremiah then described how the very people Zedekiah trusted would eventually abandon him:
“They lied to you and did you in, those so-called friends of yours…”
This is an important lesson about counsel.
Community is valuable. Wise advisers are a gift. But no human voice should become louder than God’s.
Sometimes the people around us are responding from their own fears, experiences, ambitions, or limited understanding.
We need discernment to recognise when popular advice is pulling us away from what God has said.
God Can Raise People to Defend You
Jeremiah 38:7–10 — Ebed-melek stood for justice.
Jeremiah had been thrown into a cistern and left to die.
Then Ebed-melek, an Ethiopian court official, heard what had happened.
He did not merely feel sorry for Jeremiah. He acted.
He approached the king and boldly called what had happened a great wrong. His intervention led to Jeremiah being rescued.
I love seeing this pattern throughout Jeremiah’s story: at critical moments, God raised people to advocate for him.
It reminds us that God’s protection does not always look supernatural in the obvious sense. Sometimes His protection looks like a person willing to speak.
A colleague. A leader. A friend. A stranger. Someone with access. Someone with influence. Someone willing to say, “This is wrong.”
And perhaps sometimes, we are the Ebed-melek God is raising for someone else.
When we see injustice, mistreatment, or someone without the power to defend themselves, faith may require more than prayer. It may require courageous action.
God Remembers Those Who Stand for What Is Right
Jeremiah 39:15–18 — “Because you trusted me.”
Ebed-melek’s story did not end with rescuing Jeremiah.
God remembered him.
While judgment was coming upon Jerusalem, God sent Ebed-melek a personal promise:
“I’ll most certainly save you… because you trusted me.”
His courage had not gone unnoticed.
People may forget what we do. They may never reward our integrity, generosity, advocacy, service, sacrifice, or obedience.
God does not forget.
The One who saw Ebed-melek climb down into Jeremiah’s darkness also knew exactly where Ebed-melek was when destruction came.
God Can Make Unlikely People Protect You
Jeremiah 39:11–12 and 40:2–5 — Jeremiah’s remarkable freedom
Jeremiah’s release is one of my favourite moments in these chapters.
Nebuchadnezzar himself gave special instructions concerning Jeremiah:
“Look out for him. Make sure nothing bad happens to him. Give him anything he wants.”
Then Nebuzaradan removed Jeremiah’s chains, gave him freedom to choose where he wanted to live, provided food for his journey, gave him a gift, and sent him away.
What a send-off. ❤️
The prophet who had been imprisoned, rejected, threatened, mocked, and thrown into a cistern walked out with provision, protection, freedom, and options.
And remarkably, some of that favour came through the very Babylonian authorities whose arrival Jeremiah had spent years warning Judah about.
God is not limited in how He can take care of His people.
Sometimes the help God sends will come through people we never expected.
When God has determined to preserve you for His purpose, He knows how to raise advocates, open doors, provide resources, and create favour in unlikely places.
Jeremiah’s responsibility was obedience. God’s responsibility was preservation.
Discernment Matters in Leadership
Jeremiah 40:15 — Gedaliah ignored a warning.
Johanan privately warned Gedaliah that Ishmael intended to assassinate him.
Gedaliah refused to believe it.
Soon afterward, Ishmael killed him.
There is a leadership lesson here: being trusting is not the same as being discerning.
Not every warning should be accepted blindly, but neither should every uncomfortable warning be dismissed.
In leadership, business, ministry, relationships, and community, we need wisdom to evaluate information carefully.
Prayer does not eliminate due diligence. Faith does not require naivety.
Sometimes God’s protection may come through a warning we would rather not hear.
The Deeper Question: Are We Listening?
Jeremiah 37–43 repeatedly shows people who had access to God’s voice but struggled to submit to it.
That may be the warning for us today.
We can attend church, read Scripture, pray, fast, seek counsel, listen to sermons, and still resist God when obedience becomes costly.
The question is not simply:
“Did God speak?”
It is:
“When He spoke, did I listen?”
The remnant thought Egypt would save them. Zedekiah thought surrender would destroy him. Both allowed fear to reinterpret God’s instructions.
Yet Jeremiah’s life tells another story.
Obedience was painful. It included rejection, imprisonment, misunderstanding, and waiting.
But eventually, the chains came off.
Perhaps the safest prayer is not simply, “Lord, show me what to do.”
Perhaps it is:
“Lord, show me what to do—and give me the courage to obey You when Your answer is not the one I wanted.”
Practical Takeaways
- Ask God with a surrendered heart. Seek direction because you genuinely want His will, not merely confirmation of your plans.
- Do not let urgency rush you ahead of God. The people waited ten days for an answer. Waiting can be part of obedience.
- Identify the fear behind your decisions. Ask yourself, “Would I still make this decision if I were not afraid?”
- Do not run to your version of Egypt. What looks safer outside God’s instruction may ultimately become more costly.
- Pay attention to wise warnings. Discernment requires prayer, Scripture, counsel, and humility.
- Be willing to be someone’s Ebed-melek. If God gives you the opportunity to advocate for someone or confront injustice, act courageously.
- Trust God with your protection. Jeremiah’s story reminds us that God can use unexpected people and circumstances to preserve us.
- Obey the last clear instruction. Sometimes we do not need another word from God; we need to respond to what He has already said.
Conclusion: Obedience Is Safer Than Fear
Jeremiah 37–43 has reminded me that fear can sound incredibly reasonable.
Fear can produce strategies, backup plans, explanations, and even spiritual-sounding justification.
But fear is still a poor substitute for obedience.
The people fled to Egypt trying to avoid what frightened them, only to discover that what they feared would meet them there.
Jeremiah, meanwhile, remained faithful through an incredibly difficult season—and God preserved him.
So in seasons of rebuilding, uncertainty, decision-making, waiting, business, marriage, purpose, leadership, or simply trying to understand what comes next, I want to remember this:
It is better to be where God told me to be with circumstances that frighten me than somewhere that feels safe without His instruction.
May we not only ask God to speak.
May we have the courage to listen.
Prayer
Father, thank You for being a God who speaks, guides, warns, protects, and preserves.
Forgive me for the times I have asked for Your direction while secretly hoping You would simply agree with mine. Show me where fear has become louder than Your voice and where I may be tempted to run instead of remain where You have planted me.
Give me courage to obey You even when Your instructions are difficult, inconvenient, slow, or different from what I expected.
Give me discernment in leadership, relationships, business, purpose, and every decision before me. Surround me with wise counsel, and help me recognise the people You send to warn, encourage, protect, or advocate for me.
And make me willing to be an Ebed-melek for others—to speak, act, and stand for what is right when You give me the opportunity.
Above all, teach me not merely to seek Your voice, but to obey it.
I trust that wherever You lead me, You are able to build me, plant me, preserve me, provide for me, and fulfil Your purpose for my life.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
The Candid Christian 
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