“For I know the thoughts that I have toward you, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:11).

What is striking in the Bible’s book of Jeremiah is God’s emphasis on the uniqueness and timing of Jeremiah’s prophetic calling. “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee” (Jeremiah 1:5) God tells Jeremiah. This tells us much about God’s purposes and plans for our lives. So intimate is God’s knowledge of us and so sincere His concern for us that He considers our lives prior to our existence.

Our existence, then, like Jeremiah’s, is neither accidental nor arbitrary—it is both intentional and purposive. Before we exist in this world, God ordains us to perform a certain task—a task that no one else can perform. Our job is to figure out what that task is, and then perform it with God’s help as best we can.

Whether we abide in His perfect will and follow through with His plan for our lives is up to us. But the point is, God has a plan for each of us (Jeremiah 29:11, 12). The prophet Jeremiah is an excellent example of one who both understood and remained faithful to his calling as a prophet.

Jeremiah: The Prophet of Crisis mines the Word of God for the treasures buried deep in the book of Jeremiah to give us a better understanding of God, and thus bring spiritual and moral enrichment to each of our lives.