“Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. – Jeremiah 1:8 (NIV)
Part 2 – Jeremiah was a Bullfrog
Go to PART 1
God responded to Jeremiah with “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.”
He wasn’t rebuking Jeremiah, or making him do something he didn’t want to do. He was reminding Jeremiah of who he was and that he would not be alone. Years later, Jeremiah is not popular with the people, his message makes him hated and sneered at… He complains about his lot in life and the task assigned him and threatens to stop speaking. But in Jeremiah 20:9 he says, “[God's] word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” And he continued on.
Sometimes the plan is difficult and challenging… God asks us to do impossible things. When we resist or doubt if we keep on listening, he gently reminds us of who we are – that we are called and chosen, and that we have his strength and power within us. I think that in the deepest part of ourselves, in our very bones, we can feel the resonance of God's directive, we know we were made to do what he’s asked. If we allow our fear and pride to keep it closed up tight within, the tension between our purpose and our present will ravage our souls.
When we read Maya Angelou’s poems, we don't think about how much time they took to write or how many words she erased. We see pictures of Michelangelo’s work without thinking about how much they cost him, financially, physically and emotionally. We see the end result, the prize and we stand in awe. But for these artists, the journey was the magic and hard work was their life. The fulfilment of their projects/goals/purpose was only on the back of living each day in the muck, the mess, the highs and lows, the work, the grace, the hunger and the heart of life.
“If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all.” – Michelangelo
What God asks of us is never really the goal. Going on the journey is. When you hear the whisper “forgive her” or the directive “move there” or the shout “STOP!” or the pleading “just love them” and your heart drops to the floor with the weight of the task, know that God wants to help you get there just as much as he wants you to fulfil it. Maybe even more so.
What he said to Jeremiah all those years ago, he says to you now.
“Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you.”
When those words come, when the sense to do something gnaws at your spirit and God speaks, still your racing heart, let him flood your mind with peace, and listen.
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