Are You Avoiding The Call of God? 9 Promises from the Book of Jeremiah

Hey Friend!

I wanted to have a bit of a deep dive today on the call of God over your life. There is a recurring fear showing up in various forms:

• You don’t know if you’re called.
• You don’t know if you’re equipped.
• You don’t know what you would talk about.
• You don’t know how to start.

So much fear around starting. Whether that is starting the podcast, starting to make money from the show, or letting go of something else you know you shouldn’t be doing. 

I grabbed my Bible and I was going to share a story about Joseph, but I asked God if He had a message. Was there something He wanted me to talk about specifically? My Bible basically just opened to the Book of Jeremiah and I had an insert in there. What I had already done – and this was super interesting – I had underlined so much of the first chapter of the Book of Jeremiah where it talks about Jeremiah’s call from the Lord.

I knew that this was what I was supposed to talk about because it’s so deep in my spirit right now that You. Are. Called. I know this to be true because we are all called and the call of God is pulling on your heart string. The Holy Spirit is tugging on you and convicting you that it’s time. It’s time to step into the call of God, to move through the fears, and to partner with Him to act this out and take some big hairy audacious leaps of faith in your life right now.

God is Calling

I’ve never believed more than I believe right now that we are in some revival period of time. That we are being prepared for something. That we are here for a time such as this. We are creating world change, not only in ourselves but also in our children, a generational legacy change. We need to rise up!

I’m going to walk you through nine promises in chapter one of the Book of Jeremiah that the Lord highlighted for me. We are going to answer the question: Are you avoiding the call of God? If so, we’re going to help remove that fear. We’re going to help remove that avoidance so you can take some steps with God; right straight up into your calling and your purpose.

9 Promises From the Book of Jeremiah to Help You Stop Avoiding the Call of God

Let’s begin with a quick overview of who Jeremiah was. This is from gotquestions.org:

“He was a profit who lived in the final days of the crumbling nation of Judah. He was appropriately the last prophet that God sent to preach to the southern kingdom. God had already repeatedly warned Israel to stop their idolatrous behavior but they were not listening. So God sent Jeremiah to give Judah the last warning before He cast them out, decimating the nation and sending them into captivity into the pagan kingdom of Babylon.”

Jeremiah was a faithful, God-fearing man who was called to tell Judah that because of their unrepentant sin, God had turned against them and He was prepared to remove them from the land at the hands of the pagan king.

Jeremiah was only about 17 years old and he was facing extreme turmoil over the fate of his people. He had begged them to listen and was known as the ‘Weeping Prophet.’ He was troubled because no matter how much he spoke or how hard he tried, they were not listening. 

Get Out Your Bible and Read Jeremiah Chapter One.

There is such wealth in every line in Scripture. It absolutely blows me away.

I’m going to take you through these nine things because Jeremiah’s calling is similar to your calling. 

• You’re going to receive the call before you’re ready. Always.
• You’re going to receive the call that God prepared for you well before you were even born; well before you knew there was a call on your life. 
• You’re going to go through a plethora of emotions and thoughts. You are going to face Spiritual Warfare.
• You are going to face it all because you don’t just receive the call, and it feels light, easy, and fun. No. You’re going to receive the call of God and you’re going to be afraid. You are probably already there. But the beauty is that God is with you and there are nine promises He has for you, just as He had for Jeremiah. Let’s dig in.

Book of Jeremiah: Chapter 1, Verse 5:

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born, I set you apart and I appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

• He created you and knew you. – “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.” How much peace does that bring you? God knows you so infinitely well that He already had you in mind before you were here. He understood the way your brain would work, what your fears would look like, what the calling would be, and how you would act on it. He already knew! Remove the pressure of becoming the person you should be because you’re already that person!
• “Before you were born, I set you apart.” – You were hand-picked by Him and set apart to do incredible things. Before you cry your first cry, poop your first diaper, eat fruit snacks, and before you get to kindergarten. Before you even set foot into this fallen place, the Lord set you apart! We don’t have to worry if we are enough or if we can do this because we’re already set apart.
• “I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” – God appointed Jeremiah. God didn’t say, “I just appointed you and you are equipped. Bye.” God said, “I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” God has a specific, clear, perfectly-positioned calling over Jeremiah’s life and He tells him what it is. God is not a God of confusion. If you’re wondering what you are called to do, God will tell you. He will be specific. You just have to ask and then trust in it.

Book of Jeremiah: Chapter 1, Verse 6:

“O Sovereign Lord, I said, I can’t speak for you, I’m too young.” How familiar is this? Jeremiah was like no, no, no. Those three promises from the Lord God, Almighty – the Great I Am, Yahweh – I can’t trust them because I can’t speak for you, I’m too young. Jeremiah reacts in fearfulness. He reacts in limitation and from his flesh. He reacts from a limited mind and a fearful heart. When we first start feeling that feeling and that pull, that call from God, it might be, the first time we start considering what that whisper is from the Lord, and all that fear starts creeping out. 

When we look at this story, we almost want to laugh. Jeremiah is literally talking to God. Doesn’t he understand how equipped he is?

Yet, here we are doing the exact same thing in our lives that Jeremiah did so many years ago. We often react in fear. This is not to shame anybody or make us feel bad about ourselves. It’s to highlight that this is a natural human reaction. You may be in that place right now, reacting like Jeremiah.

I can’t…

Speak for you, Lord.

Write for you, Lord.

Get on that stage for you, Lord.

Homeschool for you, Lord.

I don’t know how to…

Reconcile this marriage.

Get free from that addiction.

Lay down social media.

You serve a God that is not made of “I can’t” – you serve a God that is made of “I can” and “You will” because He is in you. You are equipped by the Holy Spirit, just like Jeremiah.

Book of Jeremiah: Chapter 1, Verse 7:

“The Lord replied, “Don’t say I’m too young. You must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people for I will be with you and I will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

God says not to say any limitations about yourself, If the Lord is sending you, you will go. You will say what the Lord puts in your mouth. Don’t be afraid of the people. Where is fear coming from? He’s not afraid of God because God’s telling him what to do. He is afraid of people and retaliation. He is afraid of them not listening to him like they haven’t been listening. God says, “Don’t be afraid of the people. I will be with you and protect you.”

Friend, it’s the same for you. God will be with you and He will protect you.

• God protects you. – He will protect you on your journey. 

Book of Jeremiah: Chapter 1, Verse 9:

“The Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said, “Look, I have put my words in your mouth. I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant.

• He equips you. – He didn’t just send Jeremiah out after saying He would protect him. God said, not only will I be with you, but I touched your mouth and put My Words into it, Jeremiah. All you have to do is go and open your mouth. This is what I think is so amazing about the call of God: it’s just a test of “Will you do it?”
  • Will you show up and stand there shaking?
  • Will you open your mouth and see what God wants to do?
  • Will you say yes?
  • Will you take the leap of faith?
  • It’s just you showing up and being a vessel for Him! There’s no pressure on Jeremiah because God is with him, He’s protecting him, and He’s equipped him. He’s got every single thing he needs.

Book of Jeremiah: Chapter 1, Verse 17:

“Get up and prepare for action. Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say. Don’t be afraid of them.”

• God will prepare you for action. – Do you have my 7-Step Spiritual Battle Plan?  It’s based on Psalm 18 and really models these concepts. Spiritual battle is similar to battling action on your calling. 

Book of Jeremiah: Chapter 1, Verse 18:

“For see, today I have made you strong, like a fortified city that cannot be captured. Like an iron pillar or a bronze wall, you will stand against the whole land.”

• God will make you strong.

Book of Jeremiah: Chapter 1, Verse 19:

“They will fight you but they will fail, for I am with you and I will take care of you.”

• You will be victorious. – I think that’s literally the last step of my Battle Plan:  God says you will be victorious. 
• God will take care of you.

Those are the promises of God over your calling, just in chapter one of the Book of Jeremiah. If you just read the promises that I pulled out of one page of Scripture, it should bless you and give you the confidence you need to pursue the call of God.

Believe me, I don’t think Jeremiah was excited and never fearful again. Absolutely not! Not only did Jeremiah have decades of hard work ahead of him, but he also had everything against him in his life as a prophet. There was so much that came against him, but at the end of the day, God said they would fight him. We know we will receive opposition when we do God’s work and pursue our calling. It’s inevitable. But God also says they will fail. It’s already done. They are already conquered. The oppressors are conquered. Because:

“I am the Lord and I will take care of you. I have spoken.”

The Promises from the Book of Jeremiah One More Time:

1. He created you.
2. He set you apart.
3. He appointed you.
4. He will protect you.
5. He equips you.
6. He prepares you for action.
7. He makes you strong.
8. He will make you victorious.
9. He will take care of you.

What beautiful promises from the Lord! 

Let’s Pray:

“Father, thank you for this beautiful message. We receive it with open hearts. We ask that our ears will be opened and that these words will be planted like seeds in our spirit, Lord. That You will water and cultivate them to bloom into beautiful, flourishing gardens of courage, of audacious action, of our minds completely letting go of the fear of man, and of completely being cleansed of comparison & distraction in Jesus’ name.

Wash us in courage and confidence. Help us know that all we need to do is rise into the calling You have placed over our lives and that we would take the next right step with You and beside You, Lord. Thank you for your message. We love You so much! In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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