Do we really believe Him?
“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! 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” (Jeremiah 1:4-8 ESV)
As we noted last week, when God called upon Jeremiah to do something that seemed beyond his ability, Jeremiah’s response was relatively predictable. “I do not know how to speak, I am only a youth.” Like Jeremiah, we want God to trust us and call upon us to do something special, but when he does it is a bit frightening!
God’s response to the young priest’s objection was comforting and challenging at the same time. Essentially God said, “Do not offer excuses, do what I have called you to do. Do not be afraid of circumstances, because I am with you and will deliver you!”
If those few words sound familiar they should, because God said them repeatedly in many different ways throughout Scripture. When God called Moses to set the people of Israel free, Moses offered many good reasons why God should choose someone else. God’s response was, “But I will be with you.” (Exodus 3:12) When God called Gideon to save Israel from Midian, Gideon was threshing wheat in the bottom of a winepress (now that is the picture of fear). When Gideon offered objections, the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:11-16) In Isaiah’s prophecy God spoke, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
All of the Gospel records include promise after promise from Jesus that we will not be left alone, that God will be with us! Matthew recorded Jesus’ last words, ” I am with you always, to the end of the age.” It was upon a knowledge of thousands of years of Hebrew history and the promises of Jesus that Paul wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
This brings us back to the question with which we began, “Do we really believe Him?” I am the first to admit that we live in strange times. Many of the things we have universally accepted, beliefs and concepts upon which the United States of America were founded, are being questioned and rejected. From powerful political authorities to the individuals along Main Street, our cultural values are under assault. A powerful enemy of all Judeo-Christian values has arisen in the Middle East with a sworn vow to destroy anything and everyone opposing it.
Satan has set before us a challenge. God has repeatedly promised He would be with His people. Jesus has promised that His disciples would never be left alone. Are we living in ways that tell the world we believe God’s word? Do we believe God or not? We all need to think about that!
Praying for more to be His,
Reggie Hundley
Executive Director
Mission Services Association, Inc.
the missions network
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