Jeremiah and God's Call
Reading Jeremiah chapter one, you get to see the moment where God calls him. Everyone loves this passage because it is one of the clearest places in Scripture where we see that God has formed us to be the people we are. He created us for a purpose and a plan that was established before we were conceived. But there are a couple things that tend to get overlooked or forgotten.
First, it is not really Jeremiah’s call. We tend to be very possessive and controlling of “our calling.” No one gets to tell us what we are supposed to do regarding our obedience or God’s plan for our lives. Living on the “mission field” that is something that I see all the more frequently. People who have “surrendered” to the most extreme of callings are often the people most resistant to input. One wonders if God Himself is allowed to have input on what they are supposed to be doing.
Second, Jeremiah is specifically called to speak. This is really the calling that God places on every one of His people. Time and time again God has the plan and He knows what needs to be done. He is also the only one with the power and ability to do what needs to be done. He changes people. He impacts history. All He ever wants from us is submissive obedience and 99% of the time that involves simply talking to those whom He brings into our lives.
Third, Jeremiah—the man created to do the job God intends for him to do—is afraid. He says he can’t do the very thing that God has made him to do. But, it is God’s plan and so he does it. If he had not, God still would have accomplished His purposes, only Jeremiah would have missed out. Then we would have been reading something named after someone else.
First, it is not really Jeremiah’s call. We tend to be very possessive and controlling of “our calling.” No one gets to tell us what we are supposed to do regarding our obedience or God’s plan for our lives. Living on the “mission field” that is something that I see all the more frequently. People who have “surrendered” to the most extreme of callings are often the people most resistant to input. One wonders if God Himself is allowed to have input on what they are supposed to be doing.
Second, Jeremiah is specifically called to speak. This is really the calling that God places on every one of His people. Time and time again God has the plan and He knows what needs to be done. He is also the only one with the power and ability to do what needs to be done. He changes people. He impacts history. All He ever wants from us is submissive obedience and 99% of the time that involves simply talking to those whom He brings into our lives.
Third, Jeremiah—the man created to do the job God intends for him to do—is afraid. He says he can’t do the very thing that God has made him to do. But, it is God’s plan and so he does it. If he had not, God still would have accomplished His purposes, only Jeremiah would have missed out. Then we would have been reading something named after someone else.
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