The prophet Jeremiah published a bold statement after Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, along with all the princes of Judah had been taken from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. That message has become a metaphor of two kinds of people and their response to suffering.
Jer 24:2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs; one held very good figs and the other very bad figs. It’s important to notice that Jeremiah only saw two baskets. There wasn’t a third basket filled with partially spoiled figs.
These two baskets represented two different results from the same event; suffering from being sent to Babylon. Some would profit from it but others wouldn’t and would become bitter and rotten. And for us the deportation to Babylon represents the tests and trials God sets before us… how will we come through? What kind of figs will we be?
What we often forget about suffering is that the trial itself is not the central issue. The real issue is what the trial reveals about us—and what we allow God to accomplish in us through it. If we will focus on what God wants to accomplish through the suffering, we will discover that there are three key things He wants to teach us:
It’s an Opportunity… We need to look at suffering as an opportunity to develop a willingness to believe that good will come out of it if we will submit and allow God to work the change in us that will draw us closer to Him. This is the response represented by the basket of good figs rather than the bad.
It’s a Teachable Moment… God wants to develop in us a teachable heart. We need to look first to our circumstances to discover the lesson that He is teaching us. In spite of our suffering, God is accomplishing something inside of us. “This is the heart represented by the basket of good figs rather than the bad.
It’s All About Obedience… As we go through suffering, we need to stand firm and allow it to develop a deeper level of obedience in us. “This is the heart represented by the basket of good figs rather than the bad.”
Jesus told us that suffering is part of life and when it comes, we shouldn’t be surprised, especially when it comes in the form of persecution by others:
John 15:20a Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;
When suffering comes, we only have two choices and that means we fall into one basket or the other. If we’ll look at our suffering as an opportunity for something good to happen, to learn the lesson God is trying to teach us, and develop a more obedient heart then we will find ourselves in the basket of good figs. Do we want the experience to mature us and develop sweet fruit or are we going to harden our heart against it and become bitter and useless fruit? Suffering is common to every member of the bride of Christ and you can rest assured that it’s going to come your way from time-to-time. When that happens, you’ll get the answer to the key question … Which Kind of Basket Case Are You?