Calling of God
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations. - Jeremiah 1:5
This is the call of God to Jeremiah. Let's take a look at this prophet that the Lord was calling. In verse 1 we are introduced to him as Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. If you go back to 2 chronicles, we will find Jeremiah. According to verse 2 began to prophesy during the reign of Josiah the king of Judah. In looking at the reign of Josiah, we find that he was only eight years old when he began to reign, but he came into the kingdom of Judah at the time of great spiritual poverty. The people had forsaken the Lord and the house of the Lord. They had turned their backs on God. The temple was just a trash heap. People had just started dumping trash in the temple grounds because the temple was not being used for worship. There were many false gods that had been embraced by the people and were being worshiped. The one true Living God had been forsaken.
But Josiah began spiritual Reformation. They began to clean up the temple of God. As they were cleaning up the temple and restoring the temple, Hilkiah the high priest found a copy of the law that he brought to the King. Hilkiah was the Father of Jeremiah. When they read the law, they realized how serious their sins were against God.
Jeremiah came from a strong spiritual background; his father the high priest and his aunt was Huldah the prophetess who was sought when they wanted to hear from the Lord there in Jerusalem. His family was very prominent in the spiritual community in Jerusalem. Jeremiah had heard the law of God in his early life. He had a heart that desired the things of the Lord. Jeremiah was blessed with a spiritual environment in which he was raised in a good way. So the call of God came to Jeremiah in verses 4 & 5.
“The word of the Lord came to me saying, “before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations. - Jeremiah 1: 4-5 So before he was ever formed in the womb God said I knew you.
I. God Knows You Before Birth
There’s a common argument in today's society about when life actually begins. Some say that life doesn't begin until the baby is born and takes its first breath and begins to cry. Some declared that life begins at the moment of conception. But here in our scripture verse, it indicates that life even begins before we were conceived. God said to Jeremiah before you were ever conceived, I knew you. David said, in Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed; And in your book they all were written. The days fashioned for me , when as yet there were none of them.”
Pastor Rick Warren says in his book, “The Purpose Driven” - “Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God”. God knew all of the parts of our bodies before they ever existed. God knew what color of hair and He knew what eye color each of us would have. He knew the parts of our body before they existed. God in his foreknowledge also knew each of our lives. Jeremiah's life and ministry began in the mind of God; before Jeremiah was ever born. The same is true of each of us. God knew us before we were ever born. God is omniscient, and God had a plan for each of our lives. In the mind of God, there is a purpose. There is a plan for each of us. “Before you came forth out of your mother's womb; I set you apart and I ordained that you should be a prophet to the nations.” - Jeremiah 1:5
Paul the Apostle writes in Galatians 1:15, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace.” Paul was called to be an apostle to the Gentiles and to the nations. Paul was an Apostle to the Gentiles separated from his mother's womb called by the grace of God that he should bring the glorious news of Jesus Christ unto the nation's. David also said, “Oh Lord , you have searched me and known me. I will praise you for I am fearfully, and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works.” - Psalm 139:14.
We bring our babies to be dedicated to the Lord, in recognition that God has a plan and a purpose for each life here on earth. Parents are offering that child to the Lord and saying to the Lord, ‘you have given us this wonderful gift and we know that your will and your ways are best; and so we dedicate this child to you so that they might serve you.’ God has a plan, a purpose, before you were ever born. Each of us, as we get older, can look back and see how God has separated us and prepared us for the work He has for us.
II. God Knows Your Strength
Jeremiah1:6, “then I said ah Lord God behold I cannot speak for I am a child.”
God had called him to go and speak to the Kings and the nations, but he objected. He said, ‘Lord I cannot speak, I'm just a child.’ Some people infer that he was 17 years old at the time. We can all imagine what a 17 year old would think if God calls them for such a big mission.
Jeremiah, at that age, was talking about the consciousness of his own inability and weakness. He realized that what God was calling him to do in his natural self could not be done. Lord, I cannot speak. I'm only a child. Now when God called Moses, Moses said the same thing. ‘Lord, I cannot speak.’ The Lord said, ‘I will put my words in your mouth.’ Moses said, ‘Lord I stutter.’ The Lord said, ‘I will give you Aaron to speak for you.’
That is not the case with Jeremiah. Jeremiah was just speaking of the inabilities at his age for what God had called him to do. Anyone who experiences the call of God upon their life for a service is aware of their own inability to fulfill that call of God. We are all aware of our own weaknesses. Many times we just stop at the point which we think we cannot do. But understand, when God calls a person for His ministry, He is not looking for people who are highly talented with great abilities, God is looking for availability. ‘Lord, I'm available. Lord, do what you want in my life and through my life.’ Jeremiah, though very conscious of his inabilities, made himself available for God to use.
Many times, the very thing that we think disqualifies us from serving the Lord is the real qualifier. God is not looking for very strong people to do His work. He's looking for weak people who recognize their weakness, and who put their trust in the Lord. God isn't looking for a capable person, but for the person who is willing to be used by God and looks to God completely for strength and wisdom and directions. When God is calling you to do His work, He is not looking for you to become an instrument to do work, but that you would become an instrument through which He can do his work. In God's hands, to be used by God is to fulfill the plan and the purpose of God for this world.
God responded to Jeremiah's objection by declaring what He was going to do. God said, ‘you will go to all that which I shall send you. I'll give you the words you speak. What I command you to speak, don't be afraid of their faces for I am with you.’ The Lord promised His sufficiency for Jeremiah's insufficiency. The message which God would tell Jeremiah to deliver was going to make people angry. He was going to be accused of treason. The Lord revealed to Jeremiah that Babylon was going to conquer Judah, because there were false prophets. But the Lord said to Jeremiah, “Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.” - Jeremiah 1: 8-9
III. God knows His Deliverance for You
“They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you.” - Jeremiah 1:19
Every difficulty and every problem can be answered by the presence and the power of God. This is true for us. Some of you may be facing some real tough situations. You feel like you are trapped. You cannot see any way out of your present dilemma. You might be filled with hopelessness and desperation for somewhere to turn to. If we turn to the Lord and look to the Lord, we will find that He will be with us. The Lord says to Jeremiah and to us, ‘I will be with you, I will deliver you, I will accomplish my purposes in my plans and you can discover the power of the Lord working in your life.’
The Lord will give you miracles that you could never have dreamed of, but first you must surrender yourself. Many times God brings us to that place of acknowledgement and recognition of our own weakness and need of Him. In that we will turn ourselves over to him. As we've heard “Man's extremities are God's opportunities”. It's true. When you come to the extreme where you can't go any further, that is often the place where God picks it up and takes over. My point of limitation is that I come to experience the power of the unlimited God because I know that I can't go any further. I know I've carried it as far as possible and it is at that point that God steps in and he does his work to my excitement and amazement. And I watch then the glorious work of God as he delivers as he sets free. In our weakness we need to learn to rely upon his strength in our ignorance we need to trust his wisdom.
Paul the Apostle was writing to the Corinthians about the difficulties of the ministry. He was telling them all of the problems that he faced in the ministry and the pressures that he was under. And then Paul answered his own question declaring “but our sufficiency is not of ourselves but our sufficiency is of Christ” - 2 Corinthians 3:5. You may be looking at your problems and the situations that you are facing and you may be asking: ‘why? This is more than I can handle; who can handle this?’ As Paul was talking to the Lord about his troubles, Paul writes, And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” - 2 Corinthians 12:9.
However, we have our own free wills that God will not violate. Due to this free will, not all of us are fulfilling the purpose that God has for our lives. We can say no to the call of God. We can say, ‘I want to do my own thing. I don't want to do your will. I'll live after my own will. I'll do it my way.’ There are many people who have rejected the will of God for their lives in order that they might follow their own desires. God does not want anyone to perish but for all to come to repentance, However, not everyone comes to repentance and acceptance of God's will and God's purpose. God knows and ordains His plan for our lives, but we must ourselves surrender to do the will of God and to fulfill that plan that God has for our lives.
As you bring your troubles to the Lord, the situation that needs the Lord also will speak to you. For God says, look. My grace is sufficient for you, and my strength will be made perfect in your weakness. God calls on you to be of strong faith in times of trouble.
Conclusion
God may be calling some of you to serve Him. Maybe you have evaded the call of God like Jeremiah. You may have said, ‘O Lord, there's no way Lord that I can do that. I am not capable of that.’ You may have turned from that call of God upon your life, because of the consciousness of your limitations. But dear children of God, you need to realize that, though you may be extremely limited, the God who has called you to serve is an unlimited God. If you will just surrender yourself to Him, He is able to do wonders in your life more exceedingly and abundantly than you could ever imagine or desire. “But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him” - 1 Corinthians 2:9. God has a plan, God has a work for each of you to accomplish for His glory. His strength is sufficient, and all you have to do is hear His call and surrender yourself to Him. Are you ready to answer His call today? Amen.
