Not a child
Do you have an idea what you need to be doing but hesitate? Maybe you are waiting for the right moment or you are waiting for everything you need to fall in place? Maybe when you lose a few pounds, or have a certain amount in your bank account, or maybe when you get married or have your first baby, or when you are done having babies. Somehow, there is always a reason why you shouldn’t take the first step, or proceed after taking the first step, why you are ill equipped for the task ahead, and why everyone else, but you, is qualified. The list is endless.
I smiled this morning as I thought of Jeremiah. I like to think God knew how Jeremiah might respond as He didn’t start off telling him to do anything. He just told him, “Jeremiah, I knew you before you were even an embryo in your mother’s womb… I knew you, I called you, I equipped you…” (Jeremiah 1:5-6)
I don’t know about you, but if I were Jeremiah, hearing that would have me leaping for joy. I mean what other validation could a human possibly need?!
But Jeremiah, like most of us, wasn’t having any of that. Hear him, “Oh no, Lord God, I don’t know how to speak, I am only a child…” Wow. God chose him before the sperm and the ovum joined together to form a baby. Yet, he thought He was unqualified when he had grown to be a boy. Again, he argued that he couldn’t speak, but he could speak long enough to explain that he couldn’t speak. Very shocking isn’t it? But isn’t that how most of us are? So, let’s not be too quick to write him off.
I don’t know your niche. But, I know you have one. I know you are not just a speck in the dust, God placed you here. Unique. To fulfill His purpose. But somehow you put it off, and every day you squirm and tell yourself, I am a child, I can’t do this, someone else but me Lord. I can’t even speak properly, I have a lisp, I don’t have a degree, I am a single mum, I am divorced, I am married, I should have done this while I was single, I am from a broken home, I am not good enough, I don’t even have a job, I don’t earn as much as I need to get things done, I am not camera perfect, I am too fat, I am too skinny, my home is too deteriorated to record videos in… so many valid excuses.
Hey, stop!
The things you think are limits are as petty as Jeremiah’s excuse. “I am a child… I can’t speak.” Can I remind you that God knows EVERYTHING about you, but He still chose you?
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I selected you so that you would go…” John 15:16
Few people out there doing amazing things felt fully equipped when they started, but what did they do? They trusted His ability in them. They said Yes to Him, ignored how they felt and pushed forward. Each step became better. They were infused with His ability as they went along. They may not always have got it right but every day they moved on was part of the process of getting better, and living out their God given purpose.
Trust His ability; like I always say, take the first step. Focus on your niche, focus on being better at what He has called you to do. Ignore the seeming deficiencies, it is really not about you. He called you and sent you and that should give you all the confidence. You may say, but how do I know He called me? How do I know what He even called me to do? To answer that, I’ll bring up something profound Mike Murdock said in his book, The Assignment. He said the thing you are passionate about, the thing that makes you cry, that stirs you up is your assignment.
Don’t look too far, don’t wait to hear many voices, it’s been obvious all along. The passion you feel when you see children walking along the streets when they should be in school, the pain you feel when you hear of another woman who died at childbirth because she didn’t have access to basic care, or the twirling feeling you get when you read about another Domestic Violence victim, or the feeling of sadness you feel when you hear of the countless innocent teenagers who became convicts, staying for years behind bars for loitering as they awaited trial because they could not afford to pay 10 dollars in bail fees.
Don’t look far. It is there, you’ve felt the pull all along you just pushed it away as your whim. Why you? Why don’t I feel what you feel? Why am I not driven the way you are? Because it is unique to you, it is your passion, NOT mine.
Say YES to Him, trust His leading. Do not say I am a child. Do not say I can’t speak. Someone somewhere is praying that you would take your first step today, and if it is for only that person, you need to start moving. After all, you may be their only hope.
If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done – Ecclesiastes 11:4