The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 1:4-8
When stories compete
The book of Jeremiah starts out with God telling a story. The story of who Jeremiah is, who he’ll become, and what he’ll do.
Some people use words like “destiny” or “fate” when referring to outcomes in life. The word “fate” derives from the the latin word fatum which literally means “that which has been spoken.”
So, God is speaking something to, over, and about Jeremiah. His “fate” if you will. But, Jeremiah is telling a different story. A competing story.
“I don’t know how… I’m too young.” (verse 6)
Now before we give the young lad a hard time for arguing with Almighty God, let’s at least acknowledge that he’s merely recounting the facts.
He is indeed young, and he really doesn’t know what to say. At least, he doesn’t have the necessary oratory skills to challenge and convince an entire nation of powerful adults to completely turn from business as usual and repent.
In the natural, he isn’t qualified at all to do what God is asking.
(Sidenote: It is interesting that God isn’t asking Jeremiah to do anything. He’s telling him who he is but that’s for another time.)
Jeremiah isn’t wrong. In some sense, the story he’s telling is factual. The issue is that it’s directly competing with the story the God of the universe is telling. It’s not contradicting it but it is competing with it.
We’ve all been there. I know I have. Mine sounds like this…
…The death of my son.
…Pain.
…Hurt.
…Anger.
…Doubt.
…Failure.
…Complacency.
…Addiction.
…Strife.
…Misunderstanding.
…Fear.
…Disqualification.
…The passing of time.
…Too old.
…Too late.
…we allow the facts of our external story to become the truth of our internal narrative.
Stories are hard to abandon when the facts of our stories are real. Even harder when we allow the facts of our external story to become the truth of our internal narrative.
Hearing a different story
But, notice that God doesn’t argue with Jeremiah. He doesn’t say, “You actually do have what it takes. You’re not young.” He doesn’t say that.
What he does say is, “Those things don’t matter with me. I’m above the facts of your story. I’m inviting you into what I want to accomplish. There’s a part for you to play. Something for you to do.”
So, maybe it’s not abandoning our stories at all. Rather, it’s listening intently to and finding ourselves hidden in another story. One that supersedes the limiting narrative stuck on repeat.
When God says to Jeremiah, “Do not say, I am too young,” (v. 7) he’s inviting Jeremiah into a different story.
God says, “It doesn’t matter that you are young because I’m not young.”
“It doesn’t matter that you don’t know how to speak because I do know how to speak.”
“It doesn’t matter that you’ve failed because I’ve never known failure.”
God is saying (to him and to us), “I’m not limited by your limitations.”
“I’m not limited by your limitations.”
Mixing up roles
In every situation, there is something that is God’s to do and there is something that is ours to do. We get into all kinds of trouble when we get these two mixed up.
What is God’s to do:
- Command
- Send
- Speak
- Affirm
- Encourage
- Be with
- Rescue
- Declare
What is ours to do:
- Stop
- Listen
- Go
- Hear
- Speak
- Trust
- Rest
- Obey
A prayerful response to a new story
I don’t know the parts of your story that are true. The limiting internal narrative that has you stuck. But my encouragement is to hear the story God is telling you. The one he is speaking over you.
- “You’re not too young.”
- “You’re not too old.”
- “Your mistake isn’t too big.”
- “Your failure isn’t fatal.”
- “It’s not too late.”
- “It’s not over.”
- “Now, Go… Do… Speak… Trust… Obey… Rest.”
He’s saying: “I’m not limited by the limitations you face. And, because I am with you, you aren’t limited either.”
“…because I am with you, you aren’t limited either.”
Lord, forgive me for letting the external facts of my story become internal narrative. For rehearsing the same things over and over. The facts of my life are what they are. They are not in dispute. But, your word to me is to look to you. To hear your voice. To obey. Thank you that I can go with confidence because you are with me. When I pause, I can see you’ve been with me all the way. My story is hidden in the broader story that you are crafting. One that isn’t about me at all. But rather what you want to accomplish in the Earth. My answer is “yes.” I belong to you. Amen.