| Jeremiah 1:1-2:30; Philippians 4:1-23; Psalm 75:1-10; Proverbs 24:17-20
“The word of the Lord came to me: I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. But I protested, ‘Oh no, Lord God! Look, I don’t know how to speak since I am only a youth.’ Then the Lord said to me: Do not say: I am only a youth, for you will go to everyone I send you to and speak whatever I tell you. Do not be afraid of anyone, for I will be with you to deliver you. This is the Lord’s declaration.
Then the Lord reached out His hand, touched my mouth and told me: Look, I have filled your mouth with My words. See, today I have set you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant…The Lord said to me, ‘You have seen correctly, for I watch over My Word to accomplish it.” (Jeremiah 1:4-10, 12)
Just in case you ever thought that you were a mistake or that your life has no significant purpose, I want you to consider the above passage of scripture. God told Jeremiah that He knew him and chose Him for His specific life task before he even found his way into his momma’s belly. Wow! That’s deep.
In Ecclesiastes 3:11 it states that God has placed eternity in our hearts. There’s a God-shaped vacuum in each of us, it is an empty place that we know is there, but we just can’t put our finger on. Then one day, Holy Spirit opens our eyes, and we understand that were created by Him for His great pleasure. God knows us, intimately, all of our quirks, our issues, the good, the bad and the ugly. He takes great pleasure in revealing Himself and His great works to us.
When we come to know the Lord, He begins to unfold His plan for our lives. Sometimes, excuse me, most of the time it’s scary because He stretches us and pulls us from our comfort zone. Why does it have to be like that? For a couple of reasons I believe, one of which is that it keeps us in partnership with Him. I’ve heard it said that you can always tell a God-idea or vision because it is way bigger than we could ever accomplish without His intervention. Look at this and get inspired – how would you like for Jesus to tell you, “Hey take those handful of fish and that bread and feed those 5,000 people over there.” “HUH, Lord are you serious?” Were the disciples able to do this? That would be an emphatic YES! And so can we do whatever He tells us to do.
God gave us those examples in the Word and in our own lives in order to feed our faith. Despite these incredible God phenomenons, we still have a tendency to say, “Ah, Lord God, I’m unable to do what you ask.” We act as though we are going to be expected to stretch the fish and bread on our own. We got a whole lot of God backing us up. We are merely vessels. God help us to stop thinking that the salvation of the world is relying on just our abilities. Please!! We CAN do all things through Christ Jesus because He strengthens us.
When we get to a certain place in relationship with God He will smooth tell us to shut our mouths, quiet that bad confession. He moves into a more aggressive mode of telling us that we CAN and we WILL do what He said. He has confidence in our obedience and yieldedness to Him. Those are the keys to success, fulfillment and accomplishment.
Don’t be afraid, God has given us His Word, His backing and the ability to do what He has called us to do. He didn’t just think it up either. YOU have been called since before you knew your momma! Everything in your life has been leading up to this time. YOU have purpose and destiny. Through Him you are going to do great things. Get ready, great ready, get ready!
PRAYER:
Lord, open the eyes of my understanding, give me clarity of thought. I want to move with You like two dance partners fluidly sweeping across the floor. My heart is to be so in sync with You Jesus that when people look at me Your character so shines through that they will feel close to You and I’ll hit every mark because I know You so well. Help me to accomplish the task You have created me for. I love You and appreciate the opportunity to serve You in such a great hour. This I pray in the precious name of Jesus, amen. |
