Focus

Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.

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Read

Jeremiah 1:4-10 (NRSV)

Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the LORD said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the LORD.”

Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me,

“Now I have put my words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”

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Reflect

We’re not sure what age Jeremiah was when he experienced God’s calling on his life, but we know that he was uncomfortable with this calling because he felt he was too young to accept such a responsibility. God responded to Jeremiah’s uneasiness with assurance and a specific command that is a much-repeated theme in scripture: “Do not be afraid…”

Fear seems to be a dominant theme in society today. It is the stock-in-trade of news networks and politicians. It is all too often a tool used to attract people to the church and to the pursuit of God. But almost every time God is recorded in scripture as inviting an individual to a journey of faith, God does not ask, but demands that fear be cast aside.

The putting aside of fear is far easier said than done, of course. But we must believe that the God who commands us to abandon fear will also, by the power of the Holy Spirit working within us, enable us to move from fear to faith, and into the work to which we are being called.

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Pray

God, we are often afraid to accept your calling upon us. Help us to trust you to conquer our fear and replace it with faith, by the power of your Spirit and in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Go with God.