Jeremiah the prophet was called by God to proclaim His Word to His people. Most of what he said they rejected and vented their anger on Jeremiah, wanting to silence him.
At times he tried withholding what God told him to speak so he wouldn’t have to face the buzz-saw opposition, but that didn’t work. He says in Jeremiah 20:9, “if I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” Jeremiah knew silence was not an option. He also knew, as God declared in Jeremiah 23:29, “Is not my word like fire and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”
When God’s Word impacts rebellious people their reactions are unpredictable. No wonder Jeremiah’s life was always under a death threat. But when God calls someone to proclaim His Word, He sustains and protects that one, so that he can fulfill his mission. He doesn’t promise there will be no hardship. But His Word will burn within you so that you can’t restrain yourself from proclaiming it. And when you proclaim it God will burn it into the hearts and minds of your hearers and crush them like being hit with a hammer.
A true servant of God will experience such things, and as he does he will find God’s grace is sufficient for him. All he needs to do is trust God and obey Him. Jeremiah did, and God used him powerfully. He wants to use you as well, so trust and obey.