Endless Possibilities
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)
When God called Jeremiah to be His spokesman over Israel, He said:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:4-5 NIV).
And Jeremiah replied, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak; I am only a child” (v. 6).
As parents, don’t we sometimes use the same excuses for our children? They’re too young. They’re just a child. They might get hurt. They’re not equipped to handle that. Yes, I agree, we are charged to protect our children from harm, but we are also responsible to raise them to be sons and daughters of our heavenly Father who recognize and obey His voice and His calling on their lives. If we teach them that “God has a purpose for your life” and then hold them back from stepping into it with our excuses, we are not only doing our children a disservice, but we’re standing in the way of God’s divine appointment.
The same goes for us. God appoints each of us to a specific calling. We are too young, too old, too broken, and too ill equipped. We are never enough, but God is everything we are not. God simply asks us to respond obediently (v7) and reassures us, “Do not be afraid…for I AM with you and will rescue you” (v8).
Do you see God’s fingerprint on your children? How are you allowing God’s appointed calling work its way through your child’s life? Has God called you or your children into a scary place?