When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either. Jeremiah might have been discouraged hearing that word of the Lord. Everyone wants their efforts to pay off, to succeed. The Lord wanted Jeremiah to continue his ministry even without the prospect of it doing much good — at least in the short haul. That reminds us that we do what we do — feed the hungry, work to end violence, strive to overcome the “house divided” of our country, etc. — simply because it is the right thing to do, because it is what God wants us to do. It is up to God to determine the outcome because of the long-term nature of the “arc of history” bending toward justice.
