Jeremiah 1:4-10 Desire vs. Calling

Observation: This is the prophet Jeremiah's call story. Maybe he's speaking poetically when he recounts a conversation with God before he was born, but the long and short of it is he has always known he is fated to play a role in delivering a very difficult message to God's people. Because the message is from God, Jeremiah need not fear for his safety: it will get through.

Application: I don't want to descend too far into nerd-dom, but I heard an interview recently with Freddie Pribze, Jr., of all people, who lent his voice to the Star Wars Rebels series. The point he made about Star Wars as a whole grabbed my attention: essentially, the Force balances itself out, no matter what.  Luke Skywalker and other heroes, as important as they are to the story, are fated to do what they do, and if their actions will bring balance to the force, they will succeed.

I know that sometimes I have a desire to have a big, dramatic role in God's plan. We all do. We like to believe we are special in some way, and that our faithfulness to God has some connection to our "impactfulness" in the world. But we need to understand that our desire to be special and our calling to be faithful are sometimes in conflict. God calls us to lots of seemingly mundane, ordinary stuff sometimes. What we rarely take into account is that in this moment, the mundane stuff to which you are called is unique to you. No one else in the world can do it. That's why God made and called you. You are part of God's mission in the world, but you are not in any way responsible for its success. God is already on that. Just being you is a high calling.

Prayer: God, help me be me, for you, today. Amen.