God's Hand on Your Life
God’s Hand on Your Life
Jeremiah 4:1 – 10
A young man had announced to his home church that God had called him to preach. Now he was called on to preach a three-service revival in a neighboring church. He prepared long and hard, carefully crafting three outstanding sermons that would be a worthy beginning to his preaching ministry.
The Sunday morning came when he was to begin the revival, and he was filled with terror as he anticipated that first sermon. The time came for him to step to the pulpit and he began to preach. After seven minutes of fast and furious proclamation he came to a long pause, then announced to the listeners: “I’ve just preached all three of my sermons. Does anybody have a testimony or something?”
It is easy to imagine that Jeremiah experienced the same kind of terror on the day when he encountered God’s call to be a divinely-appointed messenger to his people. Yet Jeremiah could rest in the confidence – as can we – that when God places His hand on us for a special task, He provides everything we will need.
We Are Called by God
Did you ever take an aptitude test when you were in school? Those are the tests that evaluate your skills and interests and tell you if you are best suited to be a brain surgeon, an accountant or a maintenance engineer. Human callings are often based on a combination of training, skills and interests, but God is not interested in human qualities. We do not choose His service as one option among many; God calls us. We serve at God’s initiative.
Jeremiah had good reasons not to respond to God’s call, from a human perspective. He was not a gifted speaker, and far too young to be taken seriously as a divine spokesman (v. 6). But God has no interest in our capabilities or talents – after all, any gifts we have are given by Him in the first place.
God is interested in our availability, not our ability. God wants you to respond to His call no matter what.
We Are Prepared by God
God does not call us to His service and then send us out empty-handed. If God calls you to a task, then He will equip you for that task.
Jeremiah lacked the gifts of a greater speaker, and he thought that disqualified him from service as a prophet. But God touched his life and prepared Jeremiah for the work he was called to do.
Whatever God has called you to do, God will prepare and equip you for the task. Perhaps even now, as you participate in this fellowship of believers and share in the work of the church, God may be equipping you for a special opportunity you don’t even know is coming. Will you be faithful in responding to God’s preparation in your life?
We Are Empowered by God
It is easy to imagine Jeremiah’s fearful anticipation of such a call, to be God’s prophet. Yet it was made easier through the greatest gift of all: the gift of God’s presence in his life. Jeremiah was not only called and prepared by God; God promised to be with him, hilling and empowering him for service. (vv. 8 – 9)
Jeremiah understood the importance of God’s presence. Eight different times in this chapter alone, the prophet will announce, “The word of the Lord came to me.” Jeremiah knew he had not authority of his own; the only authority he had to speak came from the presence and power of God working in his life.
If God has called you to serve Him, then He has promised you His presence and empowerment. God does not call you to go alone; He calls you to move forward in His service with His preparation and in His presence. Will you respond?