Jeremiah 1:5a and 18a …I formed thee…For, behold I have made thee
We live in a place and a day of self-made people, self-made men we say. You go to an establishment and it may have a large poster or framed art with “Our Story,” and it has pictures and framed texts about the beginning of that corporation. We ourselves at the Bill Rice Ranch have posters that have our story and explain in pictures and words the story of the Bill Rice Ranch. I don’t think that is completely wrong, but we are so absorbed with entrepreneurs and self-made people that sometimes we forget who actually made us. There is a God who created you and stands ready and willing to make you again.
In Jeremiah 1 God commissioned Jeremiah to take a message he did not want to give to a rebellious people, God’s own people, who did not want to receive it. Jeremiah quickly objected. He said, “God, I am a child. What can I do? I’m not eloquent. I can’t do this.” God says to him, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.” He goes on to say He had sanctified, ordained, and created Jeremiah. Verse 18 says, “For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against…the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests therefore.” He says, “Don’t be dismayed. Don’t fear. Just obey My command.”
So, God formed Jeremiah and God was about to make Jeremiah a mighty voice for Him. You are not a prophet or Jeremiah, but that is the way the world works today. The God who formed you can make you again. I don’t know what is in your past or what abilities you have today, but I do know the God who actually formed you. This God who can form you can go before you and can make you again.
There are three things to consider when you choose which way to go, whether you go your own way or whether you follow the Creator. First is agency or choice. How much choice did you have in your birth? You had none at all. Jeremiah had no agency in his birth. God said, “I formed you. I knew you before I formed you.” Jeremiah had no choice in that at all, but when it came to God’s commission to take the message to the rebellious people, he did have a choice. He had a choice about the way he would live the life God had given him. So, the God who formed you can make you again. God created you and God can create a life of value that makes a difference.
Second is focus. Consider your focus. Are you focused on yourself or are you focused on God the Creator? In verse 7 God says, “But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.” Verse 8 says, Be not afraid of their faces for I am with thee to deliver thee saith the LORD.” Verse 19 again says, “I am with thee.”
You can look throughout the Bible and almost any person with any sense that God commissioned to take a difficult message protested and said, “I can’t.” Moses said, “God, who am I that I should go stand before Pharoah?” God never answered that question. Instead, God said, “Moses, I will, I am, I will, I will.” In other words, God said, “Moses, you are nobody, but I am God. If you will obey, I will guide.” In Joshua 1, Moses is dead, but Joshua was God’s new vessel for His work. God said to Joshua in Joshua 1:5-6, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, or forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage.” Gideon was commissioned and God called him a mighty man of valor. In Judges 6, Gideon said, “I have a poor family and I am the poorest man in my poor family,” but God told him, “I will be with thee.” God saw the potential of Gideon’s obedience.
You can look high and low, but you will never see God saying to timid people, “You can do it. I see something in you that you can’t see for yourself.” That may be true. He called Gideon a mighty man of valor when no one else saw that. God never says, “You can do it,” but He often says, “I am with you.” So, what is your focus, you or God? The God who formed you can make you again.
Third is your purpose or stewardship. Someone has said, “Everyone needs something to believe, someone to love, and something to do.” If you are missing any of those, you probably feel the lack thereof deep inside you, but when we realize God for who He is, that gives us a purpose or stewardship. We realize all we have in our hands has been put there by God.
Jeremiah says in verse 9, “Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.” What a wonderful setup, God’s words in Jeremiah’s mouth. The New Testament tells us that when you are called upon to speak, give what the Lord has said. Give God’s truth. Maybe you are called upon to give a testimony or challenge and you wonder what to say. You don’t have to come up with something to say. Learn what has God has said, absorb that, and get out of the way. God has given us everything we need to do what we need to do.
So, who is your Creator today? I do not mean who made you because I know the answer to that. But who is creating your day, your path, your provision? Is it you or is it God? God said to Jeremiah, “I knew you. I formed you. I consecrated and ordained you. I have a purpose for you. I will make you defensed city.” Well, God formed you, and God can make you again. If we have submissive hearts, He will do just that.