I came across this passage recently and preached from it here at church. I want to share it with you here on our blog.
I want to talk about God’s call and the fear we sometimes experience in following that call.
Jeremiah 1:1-9, 11
This passage was written more than 2000 years ago. It is God’s call to Jeremiah to be a voice to his nation. These words can apply to us today.
Verse 5. “Before I formed you I knew you.” You weren’t a surprise to God. Even before you’re mum and dad got together, God had a plan for you. God doesn’t send his angels to hospitals to see who the new kds are.
“Hey God look here, it’s a girl.” “What’s her name?” “I wasn’t expecting her, what will I do with her?”
NO amazingly God was thinking of you long before your birth. God made your body in your mother’s womb and he has a marvellous plan for your life. You can live it your way or you can come to Jesus and find his plan and purpose for your life.
Jeremiah was discovering the reason for his life; he was to be a voice to his nation.
Verse 6. “I cannot speak for I am a youth.” I always find it funny when I here Japanese people speaking in English and they say, “I can’t speak English.” But ... you just did. What they mean is, “I can’t speak English very well. And I’m afraid to try in case I make a mistake.” Its fear and Jeremiah was also speaking with fear.
We have all given God a similar excuse at some time. I cannot speak, I’m a youth. I cannot speak, I’m a new Christian, .... I’m busy, ..... I’m tired, ...I’m shy, ...I’m Japanese and I don’t want to stand out. What excuse do you have?
Verse 7. “But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, I am a youth.”
The Lord tonight is saying, “Do not say I’m shy. Do not say I’m weak, I’m a new Christian, I’m busy, I’m old, I’m young, I’m Japanese, we don’t do it that way.”
“For you shall go to whom I send you and whatever I command you, you shall speak.” God is sending us to the people around us. The people in our work place, school, in our community.
Verse 8. “Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am able to deliver you – says the Lord.” Do not be afraid. Don’t let fear stop you doing what you have been called to do.
Verse 9. “Then the Lord put forward His hand and touched my mouth.” How has the Lord touched us? He has promised to give His Holy Spirit and said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my witnesses.”
The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to empower you to be a witness. So we need to seek and be filled with His Holy Spirit, and go out to be a witness.
Verse 11. "More over the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, What do you see?” What do you see?
When you are out of this meeting, back in the real world, what do you see? Do you see a lost world? DO you really notice? Does it grip your heart? They are lost and going to hell.
When you look at your own life, what do you see? I’m weak, I’m shy, I’m afraid. Or do you see yourself as God’s child, “I am a child of God, I am called by God, I am sent by God and He is with me, He is able to deliver me.”
God is calling you to be a voice, to your family, to your school, to your work place, to your university, to this community to this city and maybe even to this nation.
