Then said I [Jeremiah]:“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. - Jeremiah 1:6-9
I had no idea when I prayed next to my wife to put my faith and trust in Jesus, that he would turn my life upside down. My wife's as well. I thought the direction of my life was pretty well determined. I had a master's degree in Engineering, a successful career in the Army, a wonderful family a sound marriage. And then, one day the Lord said that He wanted me to serve Him and not my country. Like Jeremiah, I was not sure that I would be able to what the Lord had in mind. Can you imagine, me, a mere man formed from dust questioning the mind, purpose, and plan of God. But I did. Like Jeremiah - God provided the wherewithal to do what He had bid me to do. For someone who is supposed to be so smart - proved to be ignorant of God's power.
I suppose my experience was somewhat like Peter, Andrew, James and John. They were a bit older than Jeremiah. A little more set in their ways. They had families dependent upon their vocation as fishermen. Then Jesus showed up.
And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. - Matthew 4:18-23
Actually the decision to follow God's leading was much less of a struggle that I would have imagined. What I was doing - what I had achieved had "lost its shine" in my mind and heart. When I told my wife that I thought the Lord was telling me to lay my career in the Army and a certain income and retirement down, she said that she agreed that I should. So I did. And the Lord has proven himself to be faithful to provide for us - even in some financially impossible situations. Like Paul -
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith - Philippians 3:7-9
As Jeremiah said
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord.- Jeremiah 9:23-24
So what is it that the Lord is saying or has said to you? He does not always call you to leave your nets, but He calls all of us to, at the very least, abandon our hearts' devotion to those nets.
God will never call you to do something or go somewhere that you can do on your own. You will always need Him to do what He tells you or where He takes you. Not so that you might find personal glory in it but that He might be glorified through your obedience.
No comments:
Post a Comment