The Call of The Lord

I'm in the midst of SELF week.  Yep, as in get rid of it.  So more correctly I'm calling it ANTI-SELF week.  I'm sharing what God showed me today in my quiet time, you know, since I so openly shared about my recent lack of ....

This morning, I began reading in Jeremiah,

Jeremiah 1:4-10
4-Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 5-"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet of nations."  6-Then I said "Alas, Lord God! Behold I do not know how to speak, Because I am youth." 7-But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am youth,' Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. 8-"Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to deliver you," declares the Lord. 9-Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10-"See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To pluck up and to break down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant."

THIS PASSAGE IS SHOUTING AT ME!!!  (Summer of Seven people, hear me well here)

The Lord knows us before He even formed us!  How much he must love each and every one of us!

BUT EVEN BETTER, He calls us before we're even born!  Read it again, I implore you. 

"...and before you were born I consecrated you..."

So, are we listening to God's call?  My excuse in the past has been, "but I can't," or "I don't know how."  I wanted to listen to Him, and I wanted to feed His people, but I let these excuses get in the way.  Not fully understanding, that God will prepare me along the way.

God will give me the tools of compassion, mercy, understanding, and love, always making a way to do His work, just as He gave Jeremiah His words.  Just as God told Jeremiah not to be afraid because He was on his side, I know that The Lord God is on my side too ---

as long as I'm willing to go out and do His work, His will, following His call.

Summer of Seveners, I think this is much more what Jen Hatmaker had in mind when going through her experiment of Seven.  I love the "media" week and "clothes" week, etc.  But what is the goal?  If its to be able to say "I wore the same clothes for seven days, go me,"  then I think we're missing the point.  What are we doing with the tools that are given to us with our discoveries?

I pray for clarity for all us through the remainder of our challenge-weeks.  I pray that we see what God wants to show us through it, and I pray that we hear Him loud and clear.  I pray that we act on what He's telling us to do.

What about you?