I chose you before I formed in you the womb, I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah 1: 5 (HCSB)
Scripture: Jeremiah 1: 1-10
At times we question why God is calling us to the ministry that He is. God has a plan to use us to expand His kingdom. This devotion looks at how He will come to us and give us His message.
Cliff Notes
- God uses people as He chooses, regardless of their age.
- God comes to us when He is ready for us to start our ministry.
- We don’t have to be concerned about what we will say because it will be His message, not ours.
- God will equip us to do what He has called us to do.
This is a devotion that was in my drafts folder. I looked at what I had written and gave it the working title of How Well Does God Know Us?
God changed my plans.
Let's Put It into Context
I’ve only been putting these devotions out on the Internet for six months. I have been writing them off and on for 30 years, but they have stayed in a drawer.
I went through a spiritual tornado a year and a half ago. I felt led to letting other people read what I wrote and to keep writing.
See, the problem I have with that is I feel so inadequate. I have been a Bible study teacher for years, but I am just presenting other people’s words and ideas. Ninety-nine percent of them aren’t mine.
I know what I believe, but is it really right? I am no expert in the Bible. I was in higher education, but not seminary.
If you have read Is Depression a Lack of Faith? and God Doesn’t Try to Out Shout the Trial, you know I am not a techie. There is so much I need to learn in that area.
To read devotions in the Elijah Was Depressed series, click the appropriate button below.
So, I woke up this morning questioning is this really what I am supposed to be doing? Does God really think I can do this?
Enter God. “Here is this verse/passage, but you need to forget what you thought you were going to do with it. Listen to what I want you to hear.”
I’ll try to make this coherent through the tears. Hopefully, God can talk to you while He is talking to me.
God Chooses Whom He Chooses
Who was Jeremiah? He was the son of a preacher man (Jer. 1: 1) who thought he was too young for the job God had for him (Jer. 1: 6).
We forget that God isn’t as caught up on age as we are. He had used other youngsters: Joseph (Gen. 37: 2), Samuel (I Sam. 3: 8), David (I Sam. 16: 11), and Daniel (Dan. 1: 3-6). John the Baptist (Lk. 3) and Timothy (I Tim. 4: 12) came after Jeremiah’s time.
But then, God uses older people, too. Think about Abraham. He was 100 when Isaac was born (Gen. 21: 2). We assume Simon was older because he was told “… he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Lk. 26: 2 RSV). We are told that Anna was older (Lk. 3: 36).
Moral of the story is that, if God wants to use you, He will call you regardless of your age. So, yes, He can use us, too.
Because Jeremiah was young, he doesn’t come off as being real bold. He seems timid and insecure. That didn’t matter to God. He said He would use him anyway.
Why? It was God’s plan to use Jeremiah — it had been all along. Since God had decided this before Jeremiah was born (Jer. 1: 5), it didn’t have anything to do with Jeremiah. It had everything to do with God. The ministry and the timing was His. Our abilities — or lack of abilities — isn’t the deciding factor about whether God is going to use us.
God Will Hunt Us Down
Did you see that? God came to Jeremiah. “Now the word of the Lord came to me …” (Jer. 1: 4 RSV emphasis added). Jeremiah wasn’t seeking God. He wasn’t trying to process anything.
God just showed up. Think about how He just showed up in the burning bush. “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him [Moses] in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed” (Ex. 3: 2 RSV).
Think about how Jesus showed up to Paul on the Damascus Road. “Now as he [Paul] journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him” (Ac. 9: 3 RSV).
Part of the reason God has to hunt us down is because we don’t feel worthy. We may be seeking God to know Him better, but we may not be looking for Him to use us.
If God has it in His plan that He is going to use us, He is going to come find us. He knows what we are capable of, even if we don’t.
If we get discouraged (Jer. 15: 10-12), God will come after us. He is there to support us and protect us. He is not going to leave us.
I love the bridge in Reckless Love. There is nothing that is going to get in God’s way when He is coming after us — no wall, no lie, no shadow, no mountain.
Vocalist: Elaine Guthals
Keyboard: Chris Vieth
God loves us so much. Nothing is going to stand in His way.
God’s Message, Not Ours
I told you in the Bible study class with my ladies, I am given what to say. When I sing, I sing someone else’s words.
So, I get a little self-conscious sometimes thinking about what I am going to write here. But it isn’t my words.
It is God’s words. It is His message. We don’t have to be concerned about what we will say because it will be His message, not ours.
Yeah, Jeremiah would have probably loved to have given a message of unicorns and rainbows. Instead, the message was death and destruction by the Babylonians. Can we say, not a popular message?
What I write may not always be popular, especially since I’ve written so much on the end times. But it is God’s message, not mine. It is only through His grace that I can do this.
Making the Connections
God knows what He is doing. He has it all planned out. He knows our issues and challenges — and how to use them.
We have to let God work. It’s above our pay grade to make the decisions as to how that is going to be. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Right, they may not be small to us. To God, they are.
If God has called us, He will equip us. That was a prayer in Hebrews: “may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen” (Heb. 13: 21 NLT). Since He has known all along that this is what we would be doing, He has prepared us for this.
How Do We Apply This?
We have to remember that God knows what He is doing. Each of us has a purpose. Each of us has a ministry to perform for Him. We just have to figure out what He is calling us to do.
How do we figure out what God is calling us to do? Try answering these questions:
What are our strengths and my weaknesses? How do I think God could use these?
What do we think God is calling us to do? How is God nudging me to make a change?
What does it say in His Word about what we think He is calling me to do? Is it in line with His laws and commandments?
How does this fit in with everything in out lives right now? Is it a smooth transition or is it a spiritual tornado? Just because it is a spiritual tornado does not mean it is not God calling.
Then we have to have the confidence to do it. No, not confidence in ourselves; confidence in Him.
We just have to listen, obey, and trust. We have to put our faith fully in God.
God plans to use each and every one of us. No matter if we think He can or can’t. No matter our age or ability. God will find us, equip us, and encourage us to do His Will.
Gracious Heavenly Father. You chose us even before we were born. Lord, we choose You. Even when it takes us out of our comfort zones, we choose You. Give us strength. Give us boldness. Give us the words to say. Amen.
What do you think? To what ministry is God calling you? Are you fighting it? What do you need to do to listen, obey, and trust?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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