Jeremiah 1
1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2 The word of the LORD came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, 3 and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.
The Call of Jeremiah
4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
6 "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.
9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."
Reading this chapter I am amazed at how God used Jeremiah to be a prophet for Him. See, when God first called Jeremiah, what did God said? I have already knew the plans I have for you. I even plan it before you were born. Now I want you to do this for me. Be a prophet! Now, notice what is Jeremiah’s response? Oh God…I am just a kid, how can I speak? Well…isn’t this a very common reaction from all of us? God? Me? No way man….I have this limitations, I cannot talk properly, I cannot preach well, Sorry I am too busy, Sorry I don’t want to do something radical like that, what if they hate me? God it is too difficult! God I prefer a simple life!
Isn’t that some of the very common excuses that we give God, when God challenge us to do something? Well, there are two reasons why we often push the challenges of God away. Number 1, out of complacency. We do not like being challenged, we do not like to change our habits, we do not want to greater things. We want to have a comfortable life, being simple, and non challenging lifestyle. I tell you, if you are living a life that is complacent, you are no different from a backslider. Staying stagnant is equals to backsliding. See, if you want to be complacent, you are not even a threat to the enemy. The enemy wouldn’t even bother challenging you cause he knows you are of no asset to the kingdom of God. A lot of us always are very “loud” when it comes to doing the work of God. But to actually get your hands dirty and doing it, very little are willing.
Jeremiah is different. In his respond, he was not complacent. He wanted to be challenged. But he had succumb under the second reason to why people push God’s challenge sometimes. Number 2, fear! A lot of people can be very paralyzed by fear. They are eager to do great things, but the fear of failing, rejection, bad results, being ignored….all welled up in their heads even before these things actually happen. And this fear will truly paralyze his or her determination in charging for God. That is also another strategy the enemy use, to pull those who are an asset to the kingdom of God down. And how do we know when we are fearful? It is when we are CONVICTED that that certain something is what God wants us to do, but we are just not COURAGEOUS enough to step up and own the conviction.
See the bible said, God told Jeremiah, do not be afraid! Don’t say that you are just a child! I am with you I will rescue you! I have already lay all the plans for you!! Funny how sometimes as human, we thought that we can RUIN the plan of God. Jeremiah was no different. He must have thought to himself…God are you kidding me? Did you make the wrong choice? But the fact is we just do not have faith enough to trust that God can use us to do great things sometimes. The trust and belief that when God is on our side nothing can tear us down is VERY CRUCIAL in order allow faith to arise, and push ourselves to the launching of His call.
See when Jeremiah finally accepted his task, God touched his lips and anoint it. And God said, let My word be your word. And I APPOINT you over nations to UPROOT, to TEAR DOWN, to DESTROY, to BUILD, to PLANT! In other words, God appointed Jeremiah, to be what? Only to simply be an ordinary prophet? No…God appointer Jeremiah to be the EARTH SHAKER. Doing the RADICAL things. Doing what normal people would not do. When the spirit of God is within someone, you will know it. How? By looking at how confident is he or she in doing the work of God, the anointing he or she carries within, and the kind of energy that is extraordinarily portrayed even when he or she looks extremely ordinary. In other words, we can recognize a person doing the work of God, when we see God own his or her side, empowering him or her from within. Yes. It is common to be afraid. It is only human nature. But how you FEEL and how you REACT is totally two different things. God is looking for a WILLING and OBEDIENT servant. Not one who is rebellious, complacent, and often unwilling.
So what kind of servant you want to be? Remember we are all made for great things! But it is our actions and decisions in life that determines how far we can go, and whether we will get there.
toodles~
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