‘Alas, Sovereign Lord,’ I said. ‘I do not know how to speak, I am only a child.’ But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say I am only a child.’ Jeremiah 1:6-7
It’s funny how ordinary things can trigger a sense of inadequacy.
Today I was looking at some photos of a recent family wedding. I wasn’t free to attend so it was lovely to see the pictures. But suddenly, as I saw my cousins posing happily with their wives/husbands and children, the thought came to me, ‘all your cousins are in good long-term marriages. You’re the only one who’s not married. What’s wrong with you that no one wanted to marry you?’
The voice of the enemy can sound very ‘true’ sometimes. He knew my fear of failure and deep hurts of inferiority that had developed in my early life and wanted to pull me back into that old quicksand that would suck me down and trample on all my God given self-belief.
It’s important we remember that Jesus described Satan as a thief and a robber.
‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.’ John 10:10
He steals by twisting the truth into a lie that wounds and can even destroy us, if we let it. He did this first with Eve in the garden of Eden and it is his mission always to rob us of our hope and confidence in God and all He has made us to be.
When that thought came into my heart about being the only one in the family that had not married, it caused a crushing sense of failure. That is what Satan wanted me to feel and what he wants us all to feel. Failures, inferior, weak. He seeks to rob us of all joy in who we are, but Jesus said: ‘I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.’ Where Satan robs, Jesus gives us fullness. Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd who cares for, protects and lays down his life for his sheep because He loves them and knows them by name.
Jesus loves you. He knows you by name. He wants you and me to have life that is lived to the full. He is there to care for and protect you. He gave his life so that you could know that you belong, that you are beloved and that you are altogether beautiful in his eyes.
When God called Jeremiah, Jeremiah’s response was like how many of us would respond. He immediately thought of the reasons he didn’t fit the bill. He was too young, only a child. He had no authority to speak.
I love it that God responded, ‘Do not say I am only. ..’ He didn’t want Jeremiah to think of himself as ‘only a child.’ Nor does he want me to think of myself as inferior or lacking.
He doesn’t want you to respond with ‘O Lord, I am only .. .’ either.
Peter was the disciple that disowned the Lord after saying he would follow him everywhere. He could so easily have made failure his identity, but he let Jesus restore him. He engaged with the healing journey the Lord took him on and later was able to tell us all, ‘You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession . . .’ 1 Peter 2:9
Chosen. Royal. Holy. Special. That is what you are. The kitten looking in the mirror sees a lion in his reflection. You may feel weak, small, even invisible and the enemy will try to use every trigger to ram those feelings home, but Jesus says, ‘Can you not see, beloved one, that in Me you are Strong, Mighty, More than a Conquerer? Will you choose to see yourself as I see you, a powerful Lion or Lioness? Remember ‘my strength is made perfect in weakness,’ so even the very things that this world considers to be a lack, I consider as an open door to reveal my strength and glory.’
Prayer O Lord please forgive me for the many times I’ve allowed myself to believe that I am lacking or inferior in some way. I need to learn to listen to you whenever such thoughts bombard me. Thank you that what you say about me is the truth. Help me to see myself as you see me, not as a weak kitten but a mighty lion. Thank you that you’ve chosen me. Like Peter, I choose to declare the truth of your Word about me and rejoice in you. Amen.
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