Do Not Say You Are Too Young

Do not say you are too young

One thing that fascinates me most about the bible is that God uses people who are so far from perfect. He uses the unexpected, the unpredictable and those who counter the worldly view of a leader. You see what I have begun to notice is that God doesn't care about where you have been, how messed up you are or how broken you may be because He came to give you life and life in all it's fullness. And God even takes it one step further because He chooses to give you a destiny, a hope and a future. He chooses to use you to change the world, to wage war against darkness and to win back the nations. All you have to do is say yes. It's that simple.

In the book of Jeremiah God tells him "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5) I think this is amazing because God had already got Jeremiah’s destiny sorted before he was even conceived. Before Jeremiah was in his mother’s womb his plan, destiny and future was all mapped out for him. Jeremiah's calling was to go and be a prophet to the nations. That was his God given destiny. Could he choose to ignore it and go on his merry way? Of course. Did he? Of course not.

But that didn't stop Jeremiah feeling incapable, inexperienced and just down right not ready. You see it goes on and Jeremiah says "O sovereign Lord...I can't speak for you! I'm too young." (Jeremiah 1:6) Now God has literally spoken out loud the calling He has placed on Jeremiah. You couldn't really get any clearer or any more black and white but Jeremiah still doubts himself. He still questions his ability to make an impact, to make a difference and to be heard. So many times as Christians we completely doubt our ability to fulfill the God given calling on our lives, just like Jeremiah did. And to be quite honest we should. As mere, imperfect and sinful humans there is no way we can change the world BUT as children of the most high God who is all powerful, all loving and full of Grace we can accomplish and achieve anything.

God replies to Jeremiah by saying, "Don't say 'I am too young,' for 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." You see this is the part we seem to forget; God isn't calling us to wage war without him. He wants to be our strength, source and knowledge. You don't need anything but God to change the world. You see Jeremiah couldn't have succeeded without the anointing, calling and strength that God gave him. If he had tried, I promise you, he would have failed.

So do me a favour. Let's stop saying we're too young, too inexperienced or not quite good enough for God to use because it is one mammoth lie. Throughout the bible God uses so many people to change, influence and impact the world. Are you going to be one of them? Or are you going to buy into the lie that you’re not good enough?