Goodbye, Self-Doubt!Primjer

Jeremiah, God’s prophet in Judah, had some tough news to deliver. It was a time when the doom of entire nations—including Judah itself—was being sealed. And Jeremiah was chosen to share this rather bleak information. It was not an easy calling and Jeremiah felt ill-equipped for the assignment at hand. 

In Jeremiah 1:6, when God called him to be a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah pulled out two valid reasons why this wasn’t a possibility: his lack of experience and his lack of ability. I am too young, he reasoned with God. I don’t know how to speak, he explained.

But God was Jeremiah’s encourager. He saw Jeremiah’s weaknesses and He poured out His divine strength on the prophet. 

God says to a young, nervous Jeremiah, “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.”

Jeremiah didn’t have what it takes to stand up against kings and kingdoms. But God did. And God stood by his prophet to give him victory.

Perhaps your calling seems intimidating. You feel inexperienced. You feel inadequate. But today remember that in your weakness, God’s strength is made perfect. 

Perhaps you’ve been telling yourself the I-can’t story.

I can’t because I’ve tried before and failed. 

I can’t because there are others who are better at the task than me. 

I can’t because I’m not talented enough or smart enough 

I can’t because you fill-in-the-blank.

But God tells a different story. Today, He reminds you that He knows you intimately. He knows your weaknesses, but they don’t detract from His plans for your life. He says to you today, “Before you were born, I set you apart.” 

You’ve been set apart to do good works for His glory. The odds may seem stacked against you. The obstacles may seem insurmountable. But He is with you and he has appointed you to bear fruit in his name. So, as he says to Jeremiah, today he says to you, “Get yourself ready.” (Jeremiah 1: 17)

Self-doubt has no place in the life of God’s children for it’s really not about self. As Paul says in Philippians 2:13: “For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good pleasure.” (emphasis mine)

In response to His equipping, may you echo the words of the Psalmist to declare, “It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.”

Lean In: Father God, Even as I come to the end of this Bible Plan, may I not forget that You are with me through all of life’s challenges, equipping me for my calling. I praise You because Your right hand sustains me. You are my enoughness. You are my sufficiency. I thank You for setting me apart. I stand ready to walk in obedience, fixing my eyes on You, the Author and the Perfecter of my faith. Amen