by Caroline Kettner
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “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.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you, Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
The Lord speaks to both young and old through his word. Jeremiah claim he is only a boy. Jesus was 12 or so when he was found by his parents teaching in the synagogue. I am at the age that I can no longer claim that “I am a girl.” Years of reading the Bible asking for God’s Word to speak to me through those words has prepared me to be a lesser “prophetess” to those I meet daily. I pray that I can in some small way “pluck up” and “plant” those severely affected by COVID, racial bias, or poverty. Thank you, Lord, for your encouragement and for your priceless words of wisdom. “We should not be afraid of them,” says the Lord, for we know you are with us daily “to deliver us.”