Jeremiah 1:4-5 – The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Here was the turning point in Jeremiah’s life. God called him to full time ministry as a young man in his late teens. The prophetic office was not something he aspired to. All of it was God’s plan and initiative. Again, we are surprised by the ones God chooses. If it were up to us, we would tap the charismatic, good-looking, popular kid. But God’s choice was the quiet creative, from a town with a shady reputation, who had zero desire to pursue a career in public speaking. 

We don’t know if it was an audible voice, a gentle whisper, or an unmistakable inner impression. But the word of the Lord overthrew all Jeremiah’s reservations and pushed him out of his place of comfort.  He put these words in the first chapter partly because he thought about them every day.

Jeremiah preached the same message to the same crowd, and no one listened or cared. There were no fans. Jeremiah was not a rockstar pastor. He did not have big biceps and skinny jeans.  He had no preacher sneakers, or cool hair.  No one wanted him to sign a copy of his book. He had no likes on YouTube and zero subscribers. 

No one showed up when he advertised a poetry reading, not even his family. They thought he was off his rocker and made him the object of ridicule. But bolstered by the call, he continued to show up like a rooster at sunrise.  The conversation we find in Jeremiah 1 was like a trampoline. Whenever he fell into doubt and despair, he would return to these words and bounce back.  

Before I formed you…

God is the one who knits us together in our mother’s womb. All DNA strands are like threads chosen by the careful hand of God and woven to form our personality, skin color, height, intellect, facial features, build, aspirations, and gifts. There are 92 DNA strands per human cell, so that’s a lot of thread! 

What about the stuff you don’t like about you? I know I had a difficult time being the son of a pastor. I wanted my dad to have a regular job, so I could fit in with the high school crowd. In my first year, a friend asked what my father did for a living, and I said, “He sells insurance.” He did sell insurance, life insurance for God.  

Then, Dad did a mass mailer to everyone in our community with our family picture on the back. He was promoting a summer tent revival called “21 Days a Blaze.” My friend brought that postcard to school and taped it inside his locker for the rest of the year.

Maybe you’ve asked, “Why did I have these parents? Why did you make me like this, God? Why was I born in this little town? God, what were you thinking?” God said to Jeremiah, “It was my design.”  

He needed to hear this because he had a peculiar gift. He was a poet. In our family, we always thought poets were a little strange. They needed someone to put ants in their pants. They were always lost in space.

While other kids were shooting rabbits with slingshots, Jeremiah was looking at the sunlight glimmering off the ripples in a creek. When they called him over to play catch, they would have to say his name 20 times. Jeremiah was a strong man, but he felt things deeply.  

Here’s an interesting fact. One-third of the Old Testament is poetry. Hebrew poetry is not about rhyming and rhythm. Unlike Shakespeare, it is built around parallelism. Parallelism communicates an idea and then repeats the same thought but in another way in the following line. The repetition is what makes the message powerful and memorable.  

So, for example, “Your grass in the front yard is too tall. Like stalks of corn, it hides your flowers by the door.” Or “Your breath smells really bad, like you were chewing stink bomb flavored gum.” Ok, you get the idea.

I’m not sure what Jeremiah was writing about when God called him. But I know God’s vision for his gift was much larger than anything he had in mind. God said, “I want you to speak to the nations.” The unusual gift pushed Jeremiah to carefully polish God’s message with the right words and metaphors for maximum impact. 

Some of us see our talent as an obstacle, a handicap that slows us down. So we keep it hidden in the garage, under cover, like an old pair of golf clubs. Our vision for our gifts is so tiny. Let’s remember that God formed us in the womb. Look around at God’s handiwork. He doesn’t make mistakes. God has big plans for his gifts entrusted to you. Have you ever asked, “Lord, what am I supposed to do with my life?” Here’s the answer. Use your gift.

Psalm 139:16-17 – Your eyes saw my embryo, and in your book they all were written— days fashioned for me when there was not one of them. And to me, how precious are your thoughts, O God; how vast is their sum.