God Equips Those He Calls

The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of the LORD came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.
The Call of Jeremiah
The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
"Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' 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," declares the LORD.
Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."
The word of the LORD came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
"I see the branch of an almond tree," I replied.
The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching [b] to see that my word is fulfilled."
The word of the LORD came to me again: "What do you see?"
"I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north," I answered.
The LORD said to me, "From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms," declares the LORD.
"Their kings will come and set up their thrones
in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls
and against all the towns of Judah.
I will pronounce my judgments on my people
because of their wickedness in forsaking me,
in burning incense to other gods
and in worshiping what their hands have made.
"Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.

Unless the faith of the Bible has adequately been taught we are left in a pitched tension between hope and hopelessness. On the one side is the promise of Christ, the hope for today and tomorrow. On the other side are the wanderings in the desert, the desertion of kings and the cries of the prophets.

Jeremiah was a man who simply answered God’s call. He was probably incredulous that God would choose him even though his father had been a priest. He might have even been reluctant knowing that the challenges ahead of him as a prophet were not casual. He would endure opposition and oppression that would make his life difficult and troubling.
But whom God calls, God equips. God gives you comfort and confidence that can only be found in him. And so God tells Jeremiah that He was created for a job, to be a prophet. To be sure, God’s call on him was specific, to be one who will proclaim the truth. But he didn’t require Jeremiah to do this in his own strength. Jeremiah clearly felt inadequate to the call. Over Jeremiah’s protestations of youth and incompetence the Lord’s own voice commands, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' 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."
Key commands from the Lord. Do not. You must go. Say whatever I command you.
And key comfort. Do not be afraid. I am with you. I will rescue you.
God is saying, stop your whining. Be strong. Do what I have called you to do. Don’t put any human protests in between you and me. Don’t resist me. Just do what I have commanded you to do. I’ll be with you and if you get in trouble I’ll bail you out.

Notice that God didn’t say, “I’ll make everything comfortable for you.” He didn’t promise the easy road. He didn’t say that Jeremiah would accumulate much or even keep what possessions he had. He didn’t assure him that he would live well or be well regarded or even be well treated. What he said was, “I’m commanding you to do this, this is your life’s purpose, now do what I created you to do and I’ll be alongside of you to protect you.”

In our materialistic world we tend to see protection as an element of justice, content in the secure belief that a civilized society will certainly protect the citizenry from evil and wrongdoing. We extend the protection we expect to those things that we possess, even our livelihood. Fairness means that we have a right to accumulate and keep whatever material possessions we can. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness often translates to “life, liberty and the accumulation of stuff” because we equate “stuff” (whether that is tangible material stuff or achievement or other “acquisitions”) with happiness. God promises none of those things. In Jeremiah 29:11 the prophet describes God’s promises as being to prosper us and not to harm us. Nowhere does he say that prosperity includes the protection or preservation of “stuff.” All God was saying through Jeremiah is that you’ll come out of this alive and well. I’ll keep you from harm.

So, back to inadequacy. Faith trumps logic. Faith overcomes fear. Faith supplants feelings. Jeremiah and Moses and every other reluctant warrior learned by experience that God is greater.

Dr. Thomas Constable says in his commentary on Jeremiah, “God uses ordinary people to accomplish His extraordinary work if they trust in Him in spite of their fears, obey Him in spite of their inexperience, and proclaim His Word in spite of their feelings of inadequacy.”