When I was growing up, we were daily spending time with extended family. Our house was full of family and friends. My parents had four of us kids, my aunt next door had four girls, and my aunt who visited often had three boys. Most of my cousins and two of my siblings were older than me. I heard this phrase often, "No, Bridgett. You're too young." That was so frustrating because I did not think I was too young to participate in the conversation, the activity, or to watch the tv show or movie. I was one of the youngest granddaughters and so I was constantly told, "Not yet. Someday you will. It's just not time yet. Be patient, Bridgett."
After years of being told things like that, it is easy to start believing it. One day turns into weeks then months and even years. God has asked me to do so many hard things through the years and I might say things like, "I can't God because I am too young, too inexperienced, not educated enough, not popular enough, not (fill in the blank) enough." But God did not ask me to be enough. He is Jehovah Jireh God my Provider! He is the God of more than enough! So, on October 31, 2021 God gave this passage of scripture to me: Jeremiah 1:4-9. We are going to discuss it today and if you feel inadequate maybe you will be strengthened and empowered by the same verses God has given to me.
1. GOD MADE YOU WITH A PURPOSE.
Jeremiah 1:1-2 (1)Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2)Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Before you were formed in your mother's womb, God already knew you. Before you were ever on the face of the earth, God knew all about you and sanctified you. He set you apart for His glory and His purpose. He made Jeremiah to be a prophet unto the nations. He has created me for a specific purpose and He has done the very same thing for you. You may be older now and look back and think of all the things you have done for your personal glory or satisfaction. Maybe you have regrets, but there's a Bible verse for that!
Isaiah 49:1-5 (1)Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name. (2)And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in His quiver He hath hid me; (3)And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. (4)Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet, surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God. (5)And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
This reminds us that God named us, called us, and equipped us before we were ever born! Everything He has called us to do, He has already made provision for it. No matter if we used our strength for nothing and worked in vain, God is able to turn it around and get the glory. He is the single source of our strength! That is good news!! And when we ask for guidance and direction, He will give that to us like He did Moses.
Exodus 33:11-14 (11)And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. (12)And Moses said unto the LORD, See, Thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and Thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with me. Yet Thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou also hast found grace in My sight. (13)Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight, shew me now Thy way, that I may know Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight: and consider that this nation is Thy people. (14)And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
Isn't this a beautiful glance into a very special moment of Moses and the LORD GOD? They speak together face to face like friends. Moses tells God, "Even though You have not said who You will send with me to do everything You are calling me to do, I will trust You because You know me by name and You said I found grace in Your sight. So if I have found grace in Your sight, please show me Your way. I just need some direction." (I paraphrased here.) God said to Moses, "My presence will go with you and I will give you rest." What a beautiful promise! And we know in Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus promises to give us rest, too! But, just in case you think God only called Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Moses and so it must just be an Old Testament thing for a select few, let's read what Paul has to say about this.
Galatians 1:15-17 (15)But when it pleased God, Who separated me from my mother's womb, and called Me by His grace, (16)To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: (17)Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went unto Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
Paul is talking about his track record; how he persecuted the church and then God revealed to him the purpose and plan He had for Paul. Paul realizes it was when he was born and called into God's grace and plans that he had been destined to preach and teach about Jesus Christ. When Paul realized it was his destiny and purpose, he did not ask men their opinions, did not go visit the apostles who walked and talked with Jesus for three and a half years, but went to Arabia and came back to Damascus and if you continue reading this text he will speak about the rest of his journeys and eventually going to see Peter and James, the brother of Jesus. So, when God calls you to do something, do not go ask a bunch of people. In fact, do not even ask your pastor for confirmation. Ask God to bring you confirmation and He will do it, but often flesh and blood will fail you and cause you to miss your destiny and purpose because it often won't make sense to other people. Trust God and His plan for your life.
2. BREAK FREE FROM LIMITATIONS.
Jeremiah 1:6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. (youth) We hear God tell us to do something that seems too big for us to handle, too spectacular for us to be successful, and we say to God, "I can't do that God because I am too young, too old, too quiet, too loud, too (fill in the blank). We have to remember that God is not looking at our credentials, our bank account, our location, our immediate situation. He knows all of that but none of that is influencing His decision to use you for His great purpose. We are not alone in thinking that we are not qualified. Jeremiah did not give God a resume of all the reasons he should be picked, but rather was astonished God wanted to use him and he thought he should remind God he was so young. Moses did the same thing: gave God a reason to not want to use him but it did not work.
Exodus 4:10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. The truth is that God already knew Moses was not an eloquent speaker, that he had a speech impediment. That did not disqualify Moses. Think about it, it only gives God more glory and honor and praise when He uses the ordinary to do the extraordinary. Moses would never be able to say he did any of the great feats he accomplished apart from God. So it is with you and I. So, Moses overcame the insecurity about his speech over time right? Uh, not quite.
Exodus 6:12 And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
Exodus 6:28-30 (28)And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt (29)That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee. (30) And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?
Moses questions God, "If the people You sent me to deliver do not listen to me, what should make me think Pharaoh will hear me? I speak slow and I am unskilled and inept." Have you ever thought about the things God is telling you to do and felt unqualified? I know I have. God told me to write books and I thought about it and was not sure I had it in me. Even after writing books, how can I publish them? I did not go to school for journalism, I went to nursing school. I do not have the money to pay someone to do the work for me: to publish my books. How can I do this big, hard thing when I do not know how to navigate these uncharted waters? But like God did for Moses, He will surely give me what I need and bring people beside me to help me do what He has asked of me. What big thing is God stretching you to do?
3. YOU ARE NOT GOING ALONE. GOD PROMISES TO BE WITH YOU.
Jeremiah 1:7-8 (7)But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. (8)Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
What a beautiful example of God meeting us right in our fears and insecurities and lovingly promising to not only give us success in all He is calling us to do, but then pledging that He will never leave us or abandon us. We are not out on a journey to do this hard task for God and left to fend for ourselves. No, God meets us where we are and is with us every step of this journey. Remember Jesus saying this in the Great Commission we just talked about?
Matthew 28:19-20 (19)Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20)Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
It is not God's plan to send us out into the world and then not give us protection or provision. That would be a very unloving thing to do to His children and we have a perfectly wonderful Heavenly Father who loves us way too much to ever do that. But sometimes we are afraid of what God is asking us to do. God was sending Ezekiel to a rebellious house and so the work was going to be tough but God did not require Ezekiel to convert them. It was not Ezekiel's job to make these people repent, it was only Ezekiel's job to tell the people what God wanted them to know. Let's read about that.
Ezekiel 2:6-7 (6)And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. (7)And thou shalt speak My words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
God just wanted Ezekiel to be obedient to Him and to say what He wanted Ezekiel to say. It was not up to Ezekiel to force them to believe what he said, it was only up to him to speak the truth.
Ezekiel 3:10-14 (10)Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, all My words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. (11)And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the LORD GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. (12)Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place. (13)I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. (14)So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
We may not like the situation God is putting us in, or we may be upset about the sins of the people we have to go to, but no matter what God is asking us to do, we are promised that God will be with us and like Ezekiel we can feel God's strong hand upon our lives and know we are in His capable hands.
Exodus 3:12 And He said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou has brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
God is reminding us that we will know He is with us when we accomplish what He has asked us to do. He said to Moses and He says to us today, "Certainly I will be with you." We will know He is with us every step of the way because we will find ourselves saying and doing things we did not even know to say or do otherwise. God will equip us to do everything He is asking us to do. We must only trust and obey. It may not always be easy but Jesus did not have everything easy either and He is the Son of the Living God Most High.
4. GOD PROVIDES WHAT YOU NEED.
Jeremiah 1:9 Then the LORD put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth.
God is putting His words in our mouths, too. He is putting the tools in our hearts and is placing inside of us everything we need to be successful on the mission He is sending us on. Maybe we need to be healed of a speech or hearing issue. God is able to do that. Do you remember how He healed the man in Mark?
Mark 7:31-37 (31)And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, He came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. (32)And they bring unto Him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech (begged) Him to put His hand upon him. (33)And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers into his ears, and He spit, and touched his tongue; (34)And looking up to heaven, He sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. (35)And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue (impediment) was loosed, and he spake plain. (36)And He charged (commanded) them that they should tell no man: but the more He charged them, so much the more a great deal (widely) they published it; (37)And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: He maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb (mute) to speak.
Sometimes God does not do the miraculous to heal, but He will give you someone to help you, like He did Moses. Do you remember that?
Exodus 4:11-16 (11)And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? (12)Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. (13)And he said, O my LORD, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send. (14)And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. (15)And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. (16)And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.
God promised Moses He would be with him to help with the speech impediment. Moses had zero confidence in his own ability to do anything that important. He asked God to send someone else. God was angry with Moses because Moses not only had no faith in himself, but he had no faith that God would be able to use him. God knows the purpose and plans He has for Moses and He does not change His mind. He simply gives Aaron to Moses as a spokesman to be in the place of Moses' mouth and Moses is to Aaron in the place of God. In other words, God tells Moses what to say, and then Moses tells Aaron what God wants said and Aaron says it.
Friends, God always asks us to do things out of our comfort zones to bring glory to His name and to build up the Kingdom of God. God knows our limitations and our shortcomings, but He chooses to use us in spite of these issues. He does not throw us away and pick the stronger, the better, the wiser. Why? Because He made us with a specific purpose and whether we will run from it, or embrace it, is up to us. I hope this has helped someone today. It sure has been an encouragement to me. I am learning right along with the rest of you. Today I am thankful that God will use anyone, anytime, including me! God bless you!
~Bridgett Owens
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