In this age of electronic devices, I am very thankful for “caller ID.” While I don’t particularly want to screen my calls, well, today access to our information almost requires it.
Imagine this scene with me. You’re sitting in your favorite easy chair watching your favorite football game (OU for me); there’s just a few seconds left in the game; it’s loud, it’s intense; the phone rings, and knowing you can’t miss this incredibly important moment in life, you wait for the name and number to display across your phone. You can’t believe what you’re seeing. In a moment of panic, you try to decide what to do? Do you let the phone ring? Do you answer? Completely distracted from the game, your thoughts quickly shift to wondering what’s going on…is this a prank? The name displayed on your caller I.D. says “G.O.D.” God.
While I’d like to think that each of us (including myself) would eagerly pick up the phone and say: “Why hello God…how are you; what can I do for you today?” Realistically, I suspect we’d be a bit hesitant. Not only is this God calling, but we don’t know WHY God is calling. You answer the phone and hear a voice saying (insert your name) “I have a mission for you.” However, before God can finish, you interrupt with these words: Uh, wait a minute God. Take a look at me, “I am only.”
Words spoken by Jeremiah long ago, and words we often hear today. If God called you for a specific mission, what would your response be? “Lord, look at me, I am only a young person, only a layperson, only an elderly woman. Sometimes we interchange the words “I am only” with “I’m just.” I’m just a volunteer; just an aid in the classroom; just a teacher, just a mom. You get the picture. How often we sound like Jeremiah.
The question I want us to ponder: Is our initial response “I’m only” a legitimate expression of truly feeling inadequate for the task or simply a convenient excuse?
“No God, I can’t teach Sunday School, I am only a new Christian” or “I am just a new member.” “No, God, I can’t tell my co-workers about what you’ve done in my life, I’m just a person who believes one’s religion is a private matter.” “No God, I can’t be an advocate for the homeless, or the oppressed; I am only one person with no power to change anything.”
From today’s reading we know that God had great plans for Jeremiah. God used him in a mighty way. Before God could use Jeremiah, he had to get those 3 little words off his lips; and I’m suggesting that we need to do the same.
If your: “I am only” is due to feelings of inadequacies, trust that God will equip you for the call. God does not call the equipped; God equips the called. God is going to call each one of us to do our part….to change another’s life…. that may change the world. God isn’t going to call us to change everyone’s life, but God is going to call us to do what we can. What if God’s call today is for you to simply be a voice of encouragement to someone who is struggling. THAT’S A MIGHTY BIG CALLING. Let’s rid “I am only” and “I am just” from our vocabulary and see what God can do.
Rev. Linda Harker, Online Campus Pastor
