DEVOTION
Read Jeremiah 1:6-8
Jeremiah
knew he was ill-equipped for the job he was called for. He knew his lack of boldness,
authority, communication, his youth and lack of knowledge
would cause him to be despised by the very people he was called to
serve.
When
God calls us to deal with giants, it is always scary. It is one thing
to experience Him, having intimate knowledge of Him and being able to
communicate so closely with Him. But, it is dreadful to know that He
is expecting you to go out there and tell people of Him exactly in
the way you know Him. Not only you have your inadequacy to deal with, but you also feel like a fool. You already know in the scheme of
things you are such a small potato. You already know people are not
interested in the guy who stands alone with a message that no one
wants to hear. So, yes you dread the day when you have to take your
unpopular message out there and having to say things outloud to other
people.
People
who are truly called by Him for tasks that are completely above their
capabilities—which is
usually the case with God, He would not have it any other way—
have one thing in common, they are always scared to go forward. The
first reaction is to say no to Him, not because you want to be
disobedient but simply because you feel He could find someone else to
do a much better job for Him. You feel as if you would be a waste of
time and He could get much more done through someone else better
suited. Strangely, you are thinking in your mind that somehow He
misses out on your lack of qualifications. Although when you come to
your senses, all you can do is laugh about it for thinking there was
something He did not know. The fear always comes from reacting in the
flesh, it comes from lack of trusting Him. It also comes from the
fact that you know, because you do not measure up you will be
rejected, thus in your mind, you can taste the rejection, the mockery
etc.
We
should never let our sense of insufficiency get in the way. Once we
mourn the pain of accepting the challenge, we must resolve to say yes
to Him. The key here is that God is not looking for people who are
capable of doing the job; instead He wants to use the weak things of
the world. When we think we can do a good job for Him, than we are
useless to Him because we are already too full of ourselves and there
is no room for Him to manoeuvre. By contrast, when we know our
worthlessness, He is able to use us because we are emptied of self,
we recognize our limitations and our needs of Him as such He is
allowed to move freely within us, and walk with us every step of the
way to assure success of the ministry entrusted to us. Do not ever allow your anxiety
for who you are gets in the way. Know that He is sufficient for the
journey ahead of you. We can always bank on His presence to lead us
through.
PRAYER :
Almighty father, I pray Savior that we learn to be grateful people to
you in all that we are. I pray that we learn to avail ourselves to
you knowing that the fruit of our obedience would glorify you. Teach
us Master, how to become solely devoted to your service and teach us
what we need to remain attentive to our calling. Praises and glory to
You Savior. Amen!
