FEAR NOT: Because God Is
Day 15I Am Only
Scripture
Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”
But the LORD said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.”
Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me,
“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth…”
Jeremiah 1:5–9 · · ESV
Jeremiah was raised in a priestly family. His ministry began during the reign of King Josiah, during a period when religious reform was taking place in Judah. He was just a young man when the word of the LORD came to him with an assignment he never expected. God told Jeremiah that, before he was born, He had appointed him to be a prophet to the nations.
God told him: I formed you.
I knew you. I appointed you.
The calling was much larger than Jeremiah felt prepared to handle. God was sending him into a world of kings, officials, priests, nations, and kingdoms. He would be speaking God’s words to people who might not want to hear them. Jeremiah might have been thinking: “A prophet? To nations? Why me? What do I have to offer? Wouldn’t someone with more experience know what to say?”
“Ah, Lord god!” The objection came quickly. “Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” Jeremiah voiced his concern. But God did not let Jeremiah’s view of himself change whom He was calling.
God said:
“Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you.”
The Lord reached out His hand and touched his mouth.
Jeremiah said he did not know how to speak, so God answered him in the exact place where Jeremiah felt inadequate:
“I have put my words in your mouth.”
The assignment was enormous. And Jeremiah saw everything he lacked. But Jeremiah’s limitations were not new information to God. God called Jeremiah knowing everything about him. God said, “I am with you to deliver you.”
Jeremiah was looking at what he could not do. God kept pointing him back to what He could. Jeremiah did not receive a promise that nothing painful would happen to him. He received something deeper: God would be with him.
Later in the chapter, God gave Jeremiah visions showing what was coming and told him plainly that people would fight against him. And in the years ahead, Jeremiah would experience rejection, threats, imprisonment, humiliation, and opposition. God never pretended the assignment would be easy.
Yet the promise is repeated:
“They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the lord, to deliver you.” (Jeremiah 1:19)
Jeremiah did not have to suddenly believe he was capable. He had something better to hold onto: the God who called him would be with him.
Like Jeremiah, I know what it means to feel inadequate. I think to myself:
I am not experienced enough. I do not know what to say. Someone else would be better at this.
And sometimes I really am inexperienced. Sometimes the task really is beyond my natural ability. But my weakness does not surprise God. And my weakness does not give me a reason to doubt Him. It gives me a reason to remember:
He is with me.
When God calls me to obey, I can trust that He knows exactly whom He is asking. My confidence should rely less on what I bring to the assignment and more on the God I obey.
My inadequacy does not make God inadequate.
Jeremiah started out with:
“I am only…”
God answered with:
“I am with you.”
FEAR NOT when you feel unequal to what God has asked of you.
BECAUSE GOD IS with you.
Is there something you feel called to do but keep putting off because you don’t feel ready?
Prayer
When I look at what I lack, remind me to look to You. Help me trust You when I feel inadequate or afraid. Thank You for knowing me completely and for being with me as I obey You.
Amen.
Amelia