You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Jeremiah 1:4-5’ tag.
The Lord gave me this message: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NLT)
When the Lord came to Jeremiah and spelled out the direction his life was going to go he gave him two great promises that are hard to comprehend. First of all, the creator/sustainer of the universe told Jeremiah (and us) that He knew him intimately, even before his conception. God knows every hidden corner of our mental, emotional, and spiritual lives. Our needs, our desires, our fears. He knows us.
The second thing He tells us in this verse is that, again before we were even conceived, He had set us apart for service. Just as He appointed Jeremiah to be prophet before his birth, He has appointed each of us for service to him.
That doesn’t mean we’ll all be pastors or missionaries or great, famous spiritual giants. Simply stated, God has a personal plan for each of us in life. He’s appointed us for that plan. Individuals are appointed, not groups. Since God knows us so intimately then the plan that He has for us is beautifully, custom fit just for us according to our gifts, talents, and abilities. His plan isn’t necessarily custom fit to our comfort zone! He may ask us to do things we don’t think we can do, but He knows us best and will never ask us to do things we are unable to do.
Because of His great love for us, God also gives us the right to choose. If we grow in relationship with Him we will know the right way to go. The problem is, each of us is human and tend to stray, or rebel from the way God wants us to go. When we wander away from God does that mean His plan can’t work or that we can’t come back? NEVER!
Just as God is never surprised with the birth of a child, He is never surprised by our failure to follow His guidance. It doesn’t matter how far you have strayed from God, nothing you do can keep Him from fulfilling his plan in your life. We may think our failures are a side trip but with God there is no such thing as a side trip, only learning experiences.
The important question each of us needs to ask when we’ve wandered from God is NOT “How did I get here?” That part isn’t the most important thing. The most important question we should ask ourselves is, “How can I use this experience to glorify God and uplift others.”
The Lord God of Heaven, the creator/sustainer of the universe loves you. He not only had your emotional/spiritual/physical make-up planned before time, He set you apart to serve Him. The best way to do that is to continue growing close to Him and trusting Him no matter how many times you fail. He will never give up on you or the plan He personally designed just for you.
PRAYER: Father God. Once again I’m in awe of your greatness and loving compassion. I’m so weak, so frail and so rebellious. I want my plans to succeed even when I know Your way is best. Please empower me with your Holy Spirit to walk close to you so I can see what you want from me on a daily basis. During those times when I stray I ask that you would show me the way back to you and to the perfect, pleasing plan you have for me. Thank you for loving me the way you do. Amen
The Lord gave me this message: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NLT)
Medical science has certainly changed the way we look at childbirth. In years past the due date, sex of the child and its development were basically a mystery until the day of the child’s birth. Today, through the marvels of technology, we can know almost with a certainty, the sex of the baby, when it will be born and how it’s doing developmentally all while still in the womb!
I never tire of hearing first-time moms and dads tell of that first ultra-sound. Incredible. Here is this new life forming, developing, and growing right before our eyes! The parents can know a lot about this new, precious life long before it enters into our world all through the television screen.
The ability we have as humans to watch the formation of life, almost from conception, makes God’s message to Jeremiah even more amazing. To think that the God of the universe, the creator and sustainer of all life ‘knew me before He formed me’ boggles the mind.
The concept of God ‘knowing me’ is more than a casual acquaintance. Today, with the internet and a plethora of social networking possibilities, it’s possible to ‘know’ hundreds, even thousands of people without really even meeting them. We learn about them from blog posts, or home pages and websites, but never really meet them.
Even in our social circles it is becoming increasingly difficult to ‘intimately know’ those we rub shoulders with every day. Social mobility, economic strain, family concerns and other things hinder us from really knowing each other, and even then it’s humanly impossible to fully understand the complex emotions of anyone else, or ourselves for the matter.
But God tells us, here in Jeremiah and elsewhere, that He KNOWS us. God is intimately connected with our deepest desires, dreams, feelings and thoughts. He feels our pain exactly as we do. He fully understands our frustrations, our anger, and our fears like no one else in the world.
Not only does God fully understand your deepest thoughts and emotions. He made you the way you are. Sometimes people have ‘surprise babies’. Children that weren’t planned or expected. But in God’s eyes there are no ‘surprise babies’. All life is planned carefully and lovingly by His gracious hand. No mistakes. No second thoughts. No regrets. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, where you’ve come from, who you have hurt or who has hurt you. YOU are His special creation.
As you journey through life there will be plenty of people out there that will point out your weaknesses, remind you of past failures, criticize your current situation and/or offer all sorts of advice about how you should be, what you should change, how you should dress or act. Evaluate everything they say by reminding yourself that you are God’s special creation. He made you with the feelings, emotional make-up, desires and physical traits you have. He loves you just the way you are. There may be areas that need some ‘polishing up’, some changes that need to be made. But YOU are just the person He hoped you would be.
PRAYER: Father God, I’m in awe when I think of what it means that you, the creator/sustainer of the universe knew me intimately before I was even conceived in my mother’s womb. I thank you and praise you for who I am regardless of the flaws others seem to see in me. Empower me by your Spirit to live free of the condemnation of others. Help me to remember that I am your special creation. Forgive me for the times I’ve been unfaithful to myself and to you in how I act or think. Thank you most of all for loving me when I’m not very easy to love. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 