Say Not

by L. Lithgow, Innerleithen, Scotland | Category: General | Jun 1996

'Say not, I am a child', God said to Jeremiah in reply to his protestation that he was but a child and could not possibly fulfil the role that God wanted him to take up (1:7). We are not told a great deal about Jeremiah's background but we do know that he was of the priestly line and lived in the town of Anathoth within Benjamin's borders (1:1). Clearly he was very much in touch with God, but it seems that he would have been quite content to live out his life performing his Levitical duties rather than in the ministry he was asked to discharge. We can imagine this young priest often in the precincts of the Temple in Jerusalem mingling with the crowds that trampled its courts. These were good days, when King Josiah was on the throne, of whom it was said, 'He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD' (2 Kin. 22:2). The thirteenth year of Josiah's reign was for Jeremiah the start of a walk with God that radically changed his life.

Great was Jeremiah's resistance as he felt unfitted for the task of speaking God's word publicly. We marvel at the vessel of God's choice as he stammers out the words, 'I cannot speak' (1:6). Many could be the reasons behind his reticence; perhaps he just lacked confidence in his ability as a man of God. Low self-esteem afflicts all types of individuals; it is no respecter of people, and like Jeremiah many of us have taken up his anguished cry, 'I cannot'. Where did these feelings originate? Was there some incident in his earlier years that caused him embarrassment, so much so that until the time God spoke to him he avoided situations in which he felt extremely uncomfortable?

And is Jeremiah's predicament not something that many a believer in the Lord can easily identify with? Perhaps as you read this today you also have turned down responsibility with the excuse that you did not have the time or it was not right for you. Will you today take from the Lord the word of encouragement, 'Say not' and instead of feeling insufficient and perhaps blaming others for the way you feel, tell the Lord all about it and the way it affects you?

One fundamental cause of low self-esteem is the absence of being valued, which leaves a person with a sense of feeling worthless. Whatever were the feelings that Jeremiah had, God conveyed to him that His eye had long been on his life even before he was born (1:5). In response to Jeremiah's plea of inadequacies came the divine reassurance, 'Be not afraid... for I am with thee to deliver' (1:8). From that day he was a different man; no longer do we read that he hung back because of feelings that had troubled him in the past Instead, armed with the promise of God's unfailing presence, he fulfilled a service that spanned more than forty years.

'Of how much value and worth do you feel? Take time to read the first fourteen verses of Ephesians chapter 1, and note all the things that God in Christ has done both to and for you. Take to yourself God's word to Israel, 'I have called thee by thy name, thou art Mine' (Is. 43:1). If you view yourself as a person of no value and worth, it is not true! You were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, and it's time for you and me to lay hold on the promise of God which says, 'He heals and bindeth up' (Ps. 147:3).

L. Lithgow, Innerleithen, Scotland | Jun 1996
General