The Call
I am 12 chapters in now in my study of Jeremiah. So much good stuff, but it's hard to blog because there is so much detail. However, lately I have been able to relate with Jeremiah's call from God. Through current circumstances in my life I've often found myself praying, "No God, not me..." Yet God has always guided and directed my path, even in directions I didn't want to go. My only responsibility is to humbly and obediently follow. It's not so easy though. At times it seems impossible. I am sure this is how Jeremiah or Moses felt.
In the verses above God calls Jeremiah to a massive task - to be God's ambassador to His people and to the nations. Jeremiah's response? "Not me God! I am too young! I don't speak well!" Have you been there? I sure have - many times. There is hope when I read these callings because I can see that even the heroes of the Bible struggled with confidence and faith. In Exodus 3, Moses is a flat out whinny wimp. I love that! Then you see the journey that God took him through. It's amazing! I can only have faith that the journey God has me on, no matter how treacherous it seems, will be well worthy it.
I think that many times the only obstacle in following God's call is ourselves. Both Moses and Jeremiah wanted to make it about themselves, choosing to focus on their shortcomings. God's emphatic response was that it wasn't about them - it was about Him working through them. How many times has God told me, "Don't be afraid. I am with you!"? Probably too many.
One of my professors in college used to always say a quote that I have kept near to me and used as a constant reminder:
"God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called."
AMEN!
Labels: Bible, Discipleship, God, Life
posted by Jared Ulrich at
4:25 PM
2 Comments:
great thoughts bro. i've been following through the life of moses a lot lately and your last line really brings it together. the thing i wrestle with about him is that he died in the desert while following God. that sucks! so not only do we have to trust that God can do more with us that we could do on our own, but we have to humble ourselves to let his will be done, even at our expense.
September 11, 2009 at 6:32 PM
In one of his sermons, Francis Chan said something along the lines of "Why are we always waiting on God to "call" us?" He explained that people will often use it as an excuse for why their faith isn't being put into action. He emphasized that we don't wait for God to "call" us to watch TV or go shopping but we do those things anyway. Some things are just a matter of us deciding to do something that we know will be pleasing to God. These things start off simple: pray, worship, tithe. They can get quite challenging; for example, my husband and I are trying to decide if we want to adopt. Its not a specific calling from God we have, but a desire that has been stirring in our hearts.
I guess my point is that the prophets of the OT weren't sitting around waiting for a call--they were just going through life, and bam! God shook their worlds. It's incredible to me to read about these ordinary men and women in the Bible being called by God for such extraordinary things. I am reading through Ezekiel right now, and sheesh...talk about following a call!
I hope that you would be encouraged as you continue reading through Jeremiah!
September 12, 2009 at 7:15 AM
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