Jeremiah 1:4-8 (English Standard, ESV) 4 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.”
Who are you? Who do you want to be? Who does God know you are? Jeremiah was called to one of the most difficult tasks imaginable. He was called to tell his countrymen that they must repent or suffer loss to their enemies. It was to be a lonely work. Jeremiah was forbidden from marrying or having children (Jeremiah 16:2). He was alone, God was His only friend.
When Jeremiah was called by God to be His spokesperson Jeremiah revealed who he believed himself to be. Someone who didn’t know how to speak. Just a kid. We might say he saw himself as a nobody. But that is not how God saw him. God saw him as the man who would passionately plead with His people to repent and mournfully proclaim their fall when they refused. It was an almost impossible task, yet God believed in Jeremiah. He knew him. He knew him better than Jeremiah knew himself.
El Roi, God who sees. Hagar uses this terminology to describe the God of heaven. Genesis 16:13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” A lowly servant girl placed in an impossible situation. Hated by her mistress. Forsaken by her master and father of her child. Pregnant and Alone. Hagar thought she had been forgotten, but God saw her. He knew her. He knew her better than Hagar knew herself.
We often see our limitations, deficiencies, faults and sin. God knows them all. He also knows our abilities, possibilities, accomplishments and victories. God isn’t reigning in heaven waiting for our mistakes to pounce, but opportunities to provoke repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
That was the message of Jeremiah. God depicts the people as having committed spiritual adultery against Him. Yet He declares, Jeremiah 3:12 (ESV) Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever.”
Our God wants us back because he sees us and knows us. God loves us. Romans 5:6-8 (ESV) For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God loves us, and we should learn to love ourselves with a love that causes us to grow. We can make the changes in our lives to become better.
That’s what love does, tries to make lives better. 1 John 4:7-8 (ESV) “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
God loves us and we can know it and believe it. 1 John 4:16 (ESV) “ So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
Brandon Jackson is minister at Hatt Hill Church of Christ and owner/operator of Riverside Fly Shop.
