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HELEN SANDERS
1-17-2024
THE JEREMIAH CALL
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If we look at the life of Jeremiah, we learn that in Jeremiah 1:5 that it says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
Jeremiah’s call came before he was born. He was set apart to be a prophet. He must have been young when God spoke to him about his call. In 1:6 it says, “Then said I [Jeremiah], Ah, Lord God! Behold I cannot speak: for I am a child.”
He resisted the call because he did not believe that he was qualified because he was young. If God ordained one from the womb, then age isn’t a factor!
Verse 8 tells us what God guaranteed Jeremiah. It says, “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.” If you are called to be a prophet, then you can be certain God will be with you. Do not fear the call.
Jeremiah was told that he would not marry or have children in Jeremiah 16:2. His walk would be a lonely walk, and often that is the case with today’s prophets. They have been set apart unto God, with few close relationships. Most people do not understand them.
Jeremiah complained to God about all the hardships he went through in chapter 20. In verse 9 he said, “I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name…” The call on his life was so heavy that he wanted to quit, but then the rest of the verse reads, “…But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”
Often a prophet’s call is so hard that one will want to just stop. Yet, that fire that God has put in a prophet’s heart will burn brighter than the desire to quit, and it keeps one going no matter what the consequences are.
The Jeremiah call was to a nation that would not repent. It came with warning after warning to Israel, but Jeremiah was told that they would not listen even if he warned them. How defeating that must have felt to know you were called, but no one would listen. He was told in the very beginning (Jeremiah 1:10) that his call would root out, pull down, destroy, throw down, build, and plant. He did all those things, but Israel did not listen and repent and still went into captivity. Jeremiah was obedient to the call, knowing that it would be difficult.
If you are called to be a prophet in this season, you can be sure that you will be hated, mocked, lonely, criticized, and more by the church and the world. Yet, if you are obedient to the call, just as Jeremiah was, you will be pleasing God, and that is all that matters.
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