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When I was grade school aged, I liked to make things out of cardboard. My Dad ran a gas station for a while and that provided me with many boxes that various things came in. On my Mom’s side, well she sold baskets for a while through a company called Baskets Plus and that provided me with a lot of cardboard as well. Being a young boy with a big imagination, I used all that cardboard to do everything from making forts, to rolling down hills in them. However, the board games out of the cardboard that I made is what I still think about the most.
I do not remember the game I had made, but I do remember what one of my parents had suggested to me. I was spending my summers with them in California at the time, and it was suggested that I send my homemade game into a company as a prototype with the hopes of them liking it, manufacturing it, and selling it. What an amazing thing to tell a kid to cultivate their imagination. It was very exciting. I had many ideas back then. Unfortunately, that is about as far as I took it though. I never did take the advice and mail that game, or any other in. Who knows what could have been had I had the confidence to follow up…
Not having the confidence to follow up on something wasn’t the case for young Alexandra Scott. Alexandra Scott was less than a year old when she was diagnosed with cancer and spent her first few years of life fighting against the odds. After receiving a stem cell transplant around her fourth birthday, she vowed to start a lemonade stand to raise money for other children going through the same thing. With the help of her brother, the first stand raised $2,000. The lemonade stand to support cancer research became an annual thing for her family and Alex raised over $1 million before losing her own battle in 2004 at eight years old. Her family continues to carry on her legacy through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and has raised over $150 million to date in the hopes of finding a cure. (alexslemonade.org) All of that money and people helped because a 4-year-old decided to use what she had to make a difference.
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The prophet Jeremiah was out to make a difference too in the southern kingdom of Judah around 627-586 B.C. The nation was sliding quickly toward destruction. In the end, Jeremiah ministered under Judah’s last five kings, but he very easily could not have. Had he been like young Travis and his cardboard game, he may not have done anything. He may have listened to the voice of doubt telling him he was not up to it.
Can you think of times in your life where you felt a calling to do something, but you didn’t…? Can you think of a time where you felt a nudge but didn’t act because you didn’t feel like you were up for it, made for it, or the right person for the job…?
Jeremiah starts here in 4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,… How do you typically listen…? How do you typically hear something said to you…? Active listening is a skill I teach the residents I work with at my prison job. In addition, what seems like a remedial skill to some, actually is not done by many. One definition for active listening is, “An active way of hearing what the other person is saying to you.” In other words, making eye contact, nodding your head, and other acknowledging ways of showing you are listening. Jeremiah said here, the word of the Lord. Eye contact isn’t always an option, except for when He is coming to us through others. How else can we actively listen to the Lord…? How often do you stop to smell the roses…? Let us take the time to notice the Lord’s work around us… Where do you see the Lord at work around you…? (Examples)
For me to notice more, and especially to hear more, I need quiet. We all have different ways we learn and process, and for me at least, I need exterior noises to be quiet for me to hear and process what I’m supposed to hear and process. Our lives are filled with so much busyness that we can miss things.
Have you ever felt or noticed that internal nudge to say, or do something…? Maybe you randomly think of someone you know or love…. You may suddenly think, “you know, I should contact so and so and see how they’re doing”. Then you don’t, and shortly thereafter you find out something did go on with them. That still small voice is just that and often isn’t a loud startling bang. Therefore, in order to hear it, we need to be listening. Moreover, for many, in order to listen, we must quiet our minds that often are cluttered with a constant barrage of activity, various distractions, social media, or otherwise focus on things other than God. And the more we don’t have our focus on God, the less prone we are to both hear His word, and act on it. And when we’re not acting on God’s word, or God’s directive, then we’re acting on our own, and I can name a billion times where man acted on their own accord and things didn’t go well.
Moving on to verse 5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew a you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” How many of you have children…? Do you remember a time before your children were born when you had many ideas, plans, or hopes and dreams for your eventual children…? Then your kids are born… Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you…That is how it is, isn’t it…? There is just something so familiar to your children as they are growing up from a young age that is so familiar to us. We see things in them that we know somehow so well. We know it so well because they are made from us. They have things passed from us to them. We know them so well because they are a version of us… And whose children are God’s…? Do you think He knows us…? Before you were born I set you apart. God made you, and you, and you with a plan in mind. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. When I read that, that appointment, from God…it tells me we have a duty to be a prophet to the nations. It tells me that we have that duty.
Now you may be thinking, “I am not built for that”, or, “I don’t have the skills for that”. Before I formed you, I knew you. We’re not alone in feeling unqualified to be a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah said in 6“Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” I remember way back when I was in high school. We had elective classes we could sign up for, and sometimes you got them. I don’t remember signing up for speech class, but I’m sure glad I did. Can you think of people who have felt unqualified to do something, yet when they did, they somehow “found the strength” …? Think of young Alexandra Scott…do you think she felt qualified to accomplish all she did…?
7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. I wasn’t confident enough or had enough focus to send in my cardboard game I made. Young Alexandra was to do all she did. Where do those people find the strength…? Where can we find the confidence to step out and do what those nudges tell us to do when we may feel some trepidation, or busyness…? God…God is where we should put our faith. When we put our faith in God, He gives us that strength…that confidence to fight off the devil telling us that we aren’t good enough or have enough ability to bring God to others. Do not say I am, ‘I am too you’. You must go scripture says, say whatever God commands us. Nevertheless, what will people say…? How will others view me…? What if I mess up…? What if I’m not good enough… 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.
How qualified did Moses feel to do what God was telling him to do…? How qualified do you feel…? What did Moses accomplish…? What will you…? Do you have faith in God…? If we have faith in God, knowing that He is with our always, we can move mountains…who can stop us…? And who or what can get in our way if we are following God’s call for us…? Do not be afraid, for I am with you…
9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. The Lord gave Jeremiah what he needed, and history is jam packed with others that God provided all they needed to follow their calling and the same is true for each one of us. Have you felt nudges to do something…? Do you feel nudges or suddenly think of someone that you want to help, or reach out to but something has stopped you thinking, what will they think, or I’m too busy, or I’m just not confident enough, or I don’t want to risk that money… Stop stopping. Don’t let our human lack of confidence stop us from fulfilling what our God has in mind for us. He will give you what you need to fulfill His will for your life.
10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” What is God nudging you to do…? What has been your experience when you missed his calls…? 11 The word of the LORD came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. 12 The LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching b to see that my word is fulfilled.”
God is watching…He is here with us now. Know that your phone is ringing and it’s our Lord calling you…calling you to see that his word is fulfilled. Are you listening…? Don’t miss His call…
Let’s pray…
