Do You Feel Like You Missed It?

Did you Feel you Missed It?

Do you ever feel like you missed it? You’ve looked at your results. They are dismal. DISMAL. By any measurement of world or of church growth you are ‘’failure to thrive”. So- what do you think happened?

   *Presumed you heard from God but didn’t?

   *Personality wrong for the job?

   *Poorly prepared?

  *Wrong plan?

  *Wrong location?

Are you ashamed to hold you head up in the community? Do you find yourself

  *Canceling dates?

  *Avoiding people?

 *Considering quitting?

 *Questioning your worth?

 *Questioning your relationship with God?

WHOA! CONSIDER JEREMIAH!

Let’s look at Jeremiah chapter one.  (Don’t have a Bible? Let us know. Someone reading the blog will send you one.) God sets the stage by making it clear that Jeremiah belongs to Him. God knew him before he was in the womb. He knew the plans that were to be Jeremiah’s destiny. God appointed Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations. God not only chose Jeremiah but He pinpointed the exact people to whom Jeremiah was to speak. Is if that weren’t enough, God gave Jeremiah the script.

Now let’s give Jeremiah’s outcome the 21^st century test of success. Did it draw crowds? Was Jeremiah popular? Was he emulated by many? Did Jeremiah wannabees pop up everywhere? Did people wear his t-shirts, buy his books, watch his DVD series?

Read the rest of the book of Jeremiah and you’ll find the answers. Jeremiah was despised. He was at best ignored, at worst ridiculed. At best he had a straggly following. At worst he was mob attacked. Jeremiah was by no means successful during his lifetime according to  the standards by which we judge others and ourselves.

So what was the problem? Take a look at the questions you may be asking yourself? Did any of those apply to Jeremiah? No! He heard from God. He was chosen. He was sent to the exact people and given the exact message. So what is the explanation?

People have free will. You cannot predict how people will react to you, but you can predict whether or not you will be faithful. You cannot force someone to listen, but you can speak. You can’t drag someone in, but  you can open the door.

What is our part? Our part is to be faithful to the one who calls us. Jeremiah seemed to be a dismal failure. But the story didn’t end with the closing of the book. Jeremiah is known wherever God’s word is preached! Bible scholars study the words of Jeremiah. Sunday school classes memorize his words. And yes, some people now do wear his t-shirt.