Worth

Dan Harper September 01, 2026 7 3

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Listen to this daily worship

Jeremiah 15: 15–21 (NIV-UK)

15 Lord, you understand;
    remember me and care for me.
    Avenge me on my persecutors.
You are long-suffering – do not take me away;
    think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.
16 When your words came, I ate them;
    they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
    Lord God Almighty.
17 I never sat in the company of revellers,
    never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand was on me
    and you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending
    and my wound grievous and incurable?
You are to me like a deceptive brook,
    like a spring that fails.

19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:

‘If you repent, I will restore you
    that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
    you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
    but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you a wall to this people,
    a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
    but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
    to rescue and save you,’
declares the Lord.
21 ‘I will save you from the hands of the wicked
    and deliver you from the grasp of the cruel.’

Did you know that part of your phone screen started out as sand?

Smartphone glass contains silica, with silicon largely sourced from quartzite or quartz sand. Clever glass boffins then add other materials, heating and cooling the combination of minerals until a strong, durable, and somehow touch-sensitive, screen is produced. Out of the very ordinary, the screen through which we see half the world is created.

The humble grain of sand has been transformed.

In our reading Jeremiah doesn’t feel particularly useful. He is struggling, angry and hurt. He has responded to God’s call, doing what he can, and his life has become miserable. And Jeremiah let’s God know he isn’t happy about this.

Jeremiah is honest with God about how he is feeling. He is honest about feeling dejected and questions what use he can be. And that is a good example for us to follow. Because a life of faith doesn't mean that we always feel useful, or strong, or even particularly holy.

Sometimes we feel like the raw material rather than the finished product. Sometimes we feel like a dull pile of sand rather than a glittering phone screen.

But wonderfully, our worth isn’t found in our component parts, or even where in the manufacturing process we are. If we are a pile of sand or the world’s fanciest glass, we are still made of the same thing.

In life our worth is found in being known and loved by God, and that doesn’t change whatever else changes about us.

Prayer:

Dear God,

When we struggle to see our worth, remind us that we are already known, already held and already loved.

Amen.