02 What Does God Want From Me? (Jeremiah 1:4-19)

You're listening to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. What the Bible means and how we know. This is the second talk in our series on the book of Jeremiah. Today we'll be looking at Jeremiah chapter 1, verses 4 through 19. You can follow along with the lecture notes at wednesdayintheword.com slash Jeremiah 2. Thanks for listening. I don't know how many of you remember when Susan Boyle was on Britain's Got Talent, I don't know, it was a few years ago. She didn't look like the typical Hollywood contestant or Hollywood beauty. She was way over 20 when she appeared on the show. Much older, much less blonde than the typical contestant. And after the show was over, she said she'd struggled her whole life to prove she wasn't, quote, the worthless person people think she is. And when she came out on the stage, the judges and the crowd literally laughed at her when she said she wanted to be a professional singer like Elaine Page. Then she started to sing, and everyone was stunned. The crowd gave her a standing ovation and began clapping before she even finished her song. And afterwards, one of the judges said he'd given her the strongest recommendation he'd ever given any contestant. And in the two weeks following her appearance on the show, the video of her performance was viewed over 50 million times on YouTube. She went on to finish second on the show and get a record deal, and she's put out six albums which have sold over 90 million copies worldwide, and she's received two Grammys. So why did her story draw so much attention? That's a we're well, in addition to the fact that we love an underdog, I think her story resonates because all of us have faced that situation where we have to battle what other people think of us. Where we've been labeled or we've been put in a box because of the way we look or the way we talk or the way we dress or where we're from. And so we love this story of an underdog who everyone underestimates but then goes on to uh a triumph. And we want to be that person that had that confidence to stand up in front of people who maybe mock or scoff us and know that we are who we are, it doesn't faze us. Well, as we're gonna see, Jeremiah is that kind of an underdog. Today we're gonna look at his calling, and we're gonna ask the question, what does God want from me? So, as we said last week, we won't be going straight through the book of Jeremiah. Rather, we're gonna look at passages that answer a significant theological question. And the question we're gonna look at today is calling. What does God want from me? How do we figure out what God wants? And we're gonna look at the way God called Jeremiah and ask, how do we what can we learn from that? How do we know who God wants us to be? How do we figure it out? So before we look at the passage, let me remind you briefly the setting for the book. We talked about this last week. If you weren't here, you can download the MP3 and listen to it on Wednesdayintheword.com slash Jeremiah one. So it's there for you if you want it. Just remind you, Jeremiah began his ministry as the nation was falling apart. So he began his calling when the Assyrians, who had been the dominant world superpower, went into a civil war over who was going to be the next king. And as they went into civil war, their power began to decline, and Egypt and Babylon both decided, hey, we're gonna rush in, we're gonna gain our independence from Assyria, and we're gonna be the next world superpower. And Judah, the little nation of Judah, sits right in between Egypt and Babylon. So she was in the crosshairs, and she's trying to figure out how do we get our independence in all of this. And in the midst of all this chaos, God calls Jeremiah and says, I want you to tell the people Babylon's coming, they're going to win, and they're going to take the nation into exile. And that's a very hard message to have, and that's what we're going to look at today. So you turn to Jeremiah 1, or you have probably have your study, in your study guide, you have the text before you, and we're just going to walk through the passage. So look at Jeremiah 1, 4, and 5. 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 have appointed you a prophet to the nations. So Jeremiah's story begins with the word of the Lord. The first four words introduce this Hebrew phrase, the word of Yahweh, or the word of the Lord, and that's one of the key words in the book. Five the phrase occurs in almost five percent of the verses of Jeremiah. So one out of every twenty approximately says the word of the Lord, or this is the word of the Lord, reminding us that this is what God spoke. And everything Jeremiah says and does relates to the word of the Lord. So he says, 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 have appointed you a prophet to the nations. So right off the bat, the first thing we learn about calling is it begins with God. God initiates, Jeremiah responds. And I think that's the pattern for all of us. We don't make up our calling and then go to the Lord for approval. You know, we don't figure out our own plans and then try to get God to bless them. God makes calling clear to us. He forms, he consecrates, he appoints, and we respond. So notice the three verbs in verse 5, they're significant: the know, consecrate, and appoint. The idea of knowing that first verb is that it reaches beyond intellectual knowledge or acquaintance with facts, and it includes this intimate personal commitment. So it's not the kind of knowledge that I gained because I passed a test or I'm acquainted with the facts. This is the word that's used of husbands and wives knowing each other. It's the kind of knowledge that results from a deep personal, intimate relationship. Because I know you so well, because I've spent so much time with you, we have this personal, intimate relationship. The second verb, which is set apart or consecrate, also includes the idea of commitment. But at its root, it has the idea of setting something apart and dedicating it to a specific use. Usually in context, it is people that are set apart for the Lord's use. But it's kind of like, you know how you have your everyday dishes and then you have your good china, and that's set apart. It's dedicated for those special occasions and holidays, and you handle it carefully, and you don't just use it, you know, willy-nilly or throw it in the dishwasher, you treasure it and you set it apart for special use. That's the idea. It's this we're setting, I'm setting you apart for a task, but it has that value and intimate personal idea associated with it. And then the third verb, uh, a point, also refers to giving someone a task. Again, it's kind of like I'm setting you on the path, I'm putting your feet on this path, this is where I want you to go. And in Jeremiah's case, he's given the task of being a prophet to the nations, not simply to Judah alone. So, right here at the beginning, I want you to notice that calling begins with a relationship with God. God's word came to Jeremiah before it came through Jeremiah. Jeremiah had to know God first before he could ever deliver his word or embark on his calling. And I think that's true of all of us, that calling starts with a relationship with God. God knew Jeremiah before he was conceived. He created and designed him for the tasks that he appointed him to. He doesn't just interact with the world, he seeks out individuals, calls individuals, and here his word comes to Jeremiah. Now there's a lot of modern theologians today, this is becoming a more popular idea that God is just interested in saving the world, that he's really concerned with his creation, and while we're part of the creation, so we get saved too almost as a byproduct of God's plan for the world. I don't think that's biblical at all, and I think right here in Jeremiah you can see the idea that God called, new, consecrated, appointed. He is personally involved, he calls individuals. It's also not true, as some ancient theologians suggested, that God wound up the world like a cosmic watchmaker and then walked away from it. He's no longer interested. He just kind of set it in motion and then he left it to do whatever happens. That was very popular about a thousand years ago. That I think is also not a biblical idea. Because right here we see God handmaking Jeremiah for the task he calls Jeremiah to do. So God's word came to Jeremiah before it became came through him. Now, as good Bible students, we have to say, okay, well, how much of Jeremiah's call can we just apply to ourselves? After all, verse 5 is direct address. It is God speaking to one man. So how much of that can we apply to everyone? Is it true of everyone that God knows and sets us apart and appoints us? Well, I think we can, uh going through other scriptures, we can extrapolate that God has called all believers similarly. For instance, in Psalm 139, David echoes the same language. He says, You formed my inward parts, this is Psalm 139, verses 13 through 16. You formed my inward parts, you wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful all your works, and my sown soul knows it well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. And then verse 16, your eyes have seen my unformed substance, and in your book were all in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was none of them. So again he's echoing that idea that you knew me, you planned my days before I was even born. The New Testament speaks of every Christian in similar language. This is Romans 8, 28 and 29, which is probably a familiar verse for many of you. For we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love the Lord, to those who are called according to his purpose, for whom those whom he foreknew, he also predestined, to become conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. Again, the idea that God is causing all things, everything, all the moments of our days, the path that we're on to for his plan. And Ephesians 2, verses 8 through 10. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not as a result of works that no one should boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Again, the idea, we're his workmanship. God created and planned these works, he prepared before them, prepared beforehand so we would walk in them. So it's true that God knows me before I know him, that he knows all of us before we know him. So whether you're a Christian or not, whether you believe in him or not, the truth is God knows you and he has always known you. He's a personal God, he creates individuals in his image, he seeks, he saves, and calls individuals. So at the we have two characters in the story. We have God and Jeremiah, and at the end of verse five, we discover there's a third character in the story, and this one's a little bit of a surprise. Verse 5 tells us that God appoints Jeremiah as a prophet to the nations. And we think, well, the nations? Why do they get a prophet? I mean, it's no surprise that he would be appointed a prophet. He's a priest from a priestly background. That's most of the prophets tended to come from the from the priestly line. But it's rare for a prophet to be appointed to the nations. We would expect him to be a prophet to Judah and Judah alone, since Israel's already been taken into captivity, but his calling is wider. The nations include Babylon and Egypt and Assyria. So why would they get a prophet? So as we said, we're going to ask the question what does God want from us? Or how do we know our calling and what God wants from us and who he wants us to be? And what I'd like to suggest is that those three characters come into play for us as well. So just as there was God, Jeremiah, and others, and our calling, there is God, there's you, and there are others. And others would include your parents, your siblings, your teachers, your pastors, your bosses, co-workers, spouses, children, members of your church, anyone that you plays a role in your story. But notice how they're arranged, because I think this arrangement is true for everyone. Calling begins with God, it manifests itself in our relationship to Him, and that relationship leads to others. So our calling, our identity, our purpose begins with seeking God, begins with finding him. Then as that relationship changes us and we grow in it, it leads us to impact the lives of others. So calling leads us to others. When I was in college, a lot of people used to talk about finding themselves. I don't know, do people still talk about finding yourself today? Or is that, yeah, is that old-fashioned? It was very popular to take a gap year between high school and college to quote, find yourself. And that idea assumes that there's only one character in the story, me. I find myself. And others, if they're in the story at all, they're like the opposition. I'm fighting against them. So like Susan Boyle, I have to wrestle with the labels other people put on me and fight against them. So, you know, don't label me your daughter or your wife or your mother or your teacher. I'm I'm finding myself. As if I decide who I'm going to be in a vacuum, and it's completely up to me. And I think biblically that's not a true statement because we don't get to decide who our parents are. We don't get to decide when we'll be born, in what place in world history, what country, whether we're uh where we're going to grow up, who our siblings will be. We don't get to decide our childhood economic situation, our ethnic background, our religious background. We don't get to pick what opportunities come our way, what obstacles will be in our path, what accidents will befall us. None of that. We don't decide any of that. We learn from 1.5, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. It's the Lord that decided all those things. So none of us really define ourselves. I think that's one of the lies of Western society. We don't get to define ourselves because God is the one who defines us. He formed us, he designed us, he creates us, and he sets us apart. Now it's true that our abilities, our passions, the needs of others, the inside of our community, all of that can play a role in helping us find our calling. They can be powerful clues that God uses to point us in the right direction. Because, you know, few of us get to hear the voice of God like Jeremiah did saying, here's what I want you to do. But too often we need to, we fail to apply any wisdom or discernment to those clues. We just let them blow us about like a storm. Now, I do have to disappoint you here. I am not going to explain to you how to find your specific calling. We're going to talk in more general terms, but I can recommend two books. And I will put a link to these in the lecture notes. The first one is the one I would, if you only have time to read one, read this one. It's called Finding the Will of God by Bruce K. Walkey. And it's only like a hundred pages, maybe. It's not very big. You can read it in an afternoon. It's Finding the Will of God by Bruce Waltke. It's, I think, the best kind of set you on the right path to find your specific calling. The other one is a much older book. It's called Decision Making and the Will of God. And it's by Gary Friesen and Robin Maxim. And just as a warning, if you read that book, read the entire book or the second half. Because what he does is in the first half, he kind of goes through the popular notion of finding my calling. And he makes such a strong case for it. I've known people that have read that and then stopped. In the second half, he says, this is why that's not right. So but he does a very good job of defending the view that he doesn't believe in. So if you're going to read that book, read the whole thing or just start with the second half. Decision making and the Will of God. It's the subtitle's A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View. So he gives the traditional view in the first half, and he does a very good job of it. But it's much longer. And I will put a link to those two books in the lecture notes, which you can find at Wednesdayentheword.com slash Jeremiah 2. So for now, I want you to realize that calling begins with God, and it's through our relationship with him that we impact others. So we find our calling by first finding God, not by finding ourselves. But there are obstacles to calling. We get conflict in the very next verse. So at the end of verse 5, God gives Jeremiah this basic understanding of his calling. He's going to be a prophet to the nations. And in verse 6, we get Jeremiah's response, which is basically panic. That ought to sound familiar. Verse 6, then I said, Alas, Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak because I'm a youth. So he starts out protesting, saying, Wait a minute, wait a minute, I think you've got the wrong guy. I don't think I'm the right person for this job. And he gives two primary concerns. One has to do with himself, and one has to do with other people. So his first concern has to do with himself, and he says, I'm not a speaker. I don't have the ability to talk. I'm not the right guy. I'm not equipped. I'm not trained for this job. I don't have the right skill sets or talents to get up in front and speak the way a prophet has to speak. And then his second concern has to do with others. He says, I'm too young, and people are not going to listen to young prophets. They aren't going to respect me or listen to me because I don't fit their stereotype. So like Susan Boyle, he doesn't look the part. Nobody wants some young kid who's still wet behind the ears telling them what God thinks. He's he doesn't, how can he know anything? Who's going to listen to him? So he says essentially, I'm not capable, and even if I was capable, they aren't going to listen to me anyway because I'm too young. So that brings us to our next observation about calling, and that is it usually starts out looking like absolute certain failure. I think that's, I've known more people that say that. We look at ourselves and we look at what's out there and we what we think God might be calling us to, and we say, I'm too young, I'm too old, I don't have the right education, I don't have the right background, I didn't go to the right schools, I didn't have a perfect childhood, I've been wounded by life, I'm nobody from nowhere, there's no way I can do this. And that's how calling feels. Like we're being, uh we're stepping up to bat with a blindfold on. And there we know at least a half a dozen other people who are more qualified to do that job. And I think we see that throughout the Bible. Nearly everybody, it seems, when you start looking at their stories, started out saying, No, this isn't going to work. Abraham says, You know, I'm too old to have a child. Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery in a foreign country. Moses says, I can't speak. Wouldn't Aaron be a better choice? And we see that over and over throughout Scripture. Calling begins by facing something that looks impossible. And Jeremiah is no exception. So let's look how we how God answers his fears. Look at verses 7 through 9. But the Lord said to me, Do not say I am a youth, because everywhere I send you you shall go, and all that I command you you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord. Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put your my words in your mouth. So the Lord puts the matter back in proper perspective, and essentially what he says is, Don't look at yourself, look at me. Don't look at the servant, look at the master. That's the problem. So he addresses first Jeremiah's concerns about being too young, and notice he doesn't belittle him, he doesn't say you're wrong to have that fear, and he doesn't tell him, No, actually, you're old enough. Jeremiah is too young, and nobody is gonna listen to him, and that's what we're gonna see. In fact, they're gonna try to kill him. He's gonna have a lot of obstacles in his path. But God responds in the way he almost always responds to this type of concern. He doesn't dismiss the fear, he doesn't criticize it, he doesn't minimize it. Instead, he says, I will be with you. I promise I will be with you. Yes, it's gonna be hard, but I'm going to be with you. So, in response to Jeremiah's fear, God offers his presence. And God's presence is a powerful thing. Now that might not sound like very much, but think about how we see this in our daily lives. Those of you with kids know how the power of presence works on them. I mean, when my kids were little, sometimes they were afraid to go to Bed by themselves and they just beg us to stay in the room with them until they fell asleep or stay in the hallway or leave the light on. Because we want someone with us when we're scared. Presence goes a long way to removing that fear. That's why we go sit with each other when someone's in the hospital or we camp out in the living room with someone who's waiting for the phone to ring. And our first instinct when we're afraid is to turn to our brothers and sisters and say, just come sit with me and pray with me. Because presence takes away fear. We want someone with us when we're scared because that takes away some of the fear, and that's what God's promising. Jeremiah is afraid, and God says, You're not alone, I will be with you. Then he goes on to address Jeremiah's concern about speaking, and once again we get this beautiful picture of him interacting with Jeremiah personally. Jeremiah complains that he doesn't have the words, so God gives him the words with a visual symbol. He stretches out his hand and touches Jeremiah's mouth, and he gently says, I'm gonna give you the words. He complains, I don't know how to speak, and God essentially says, I'm going to equip you. I will give you what you need to do the task I have asked you to do. So remember, I formed you, I consecrated you, I appointed you. I'm not gonna leave you hanging. I'm gonna give you what you need. So in response to Jeremiah's youth, God promises his presence. In response to his lack of ability, God says, I will equip you and gives him the words he needs to speak. And all of that is this kind of amazing picture of God overcoming Jeremiah's weakness. So essentially, God told Jeremiah, I'm gonna make you a prophet. Jeremiah looked at himself and said, No, I don't think so. And he looked at the nations and said, I really don't think so. And God reaches out and says, You're looking in the wrong direction. Look at me, don't look at them. I'll give you the words and I will be with you. So the next thing we know about calling is that it feels like certain failure, but God's going to be with us and he's going to equip us. So calling involves facing those fears, facing those insecurities, facing our questions honestly, and then being willing to go wherever God sends us. It doesn't mean it's going to be easy, and in fact, we're going to see as we go through the book just how difficult Jeremiah's path was. And it doesn't mean it's going to be a success the way the world measures success. Because the world measures success in terms of fame, fortune, and public acclaim. You know, we think success means we're going to write like Mark Twain or paint like Rembrandt or cure the common cold or discover the next big trend that turns Silicone Valley upside down, or maybe we'll solve world hunger or poverty or something, and we think that's what success is. Because we measure success by impact, but that's not how God measures success. God measures success by you faithfully doing that and only that which he has called you to do. So for success in God's eyes is faithfulness. It's not necessarily impact. Some of us may be called to have impact, some of us may be called to work behind the scenes and never get any public recognition. That's all part of his plan. But success is faithfully doing what he has asked you to do. So God calls, we respond, and our job is faithfulness, letting God worry about the impact and the results. It may look like failure, but thankfully we have a God who delights in taking the weak and making them strong and picking those who are completely inadequate and ill-equipped and equipping them for his kingdom. So, of course, Abraham ended up founding God's people. Joseph ended up second to Pharaoh, saving his people from starvation, and Moses ended up leading the people to the promised land. That's what it means to follow God. That's how we experience our calling. We face our insecurities, and then we ask the Lord for his presence and his equipping. Okay, verse 10. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations, over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. God gives Jeremiah six words that describe the essence of his calling: pluck up, break down, destroy, overthrow, build, and plant. And that is essentially the entire message of the book. Four words relate to destruction: the pluck up, break down, destroy, and overthrow. The main message of Jeremiah is judgment is coming, hard times are coming, Babylon's coming, they're going to win. Things that you can't even imagine are in your future. That's the destruction. But notice there are also two for building, to build and to plant. There is more than just disaster. There is hope, there is restoration, and there will be life again. So Jeremiah's job is not just to predict the disaster, but also to proclaim the hope, the restoration, the recovery, the life after the exile ends. So God predicts that his people will disobey him and they will be sent into exile, but he is also predicting that he will bring them back from exile and give them hope. Then the Lord gives Jeremiah two visions, and we see these kinds of visions in prophetic literature quite a lot, where there's a familiar object or an event that provides the imagery for an oracle. So the meaning is made clear by the visual image. So the first one's in 11 and 12. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then the Lord said to me, You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it. So his first vision is of an almond tree, and in that region, the first trees to bloom in spring were almond trees. And Jeremiah's hometown was the center for almond growing at that time. And so he says, What do you see? I see this tree blooming into spring. And there's this kind of wordplay that's impossible to translate because the word for almond and the word for watch in Hebrew are very similar. They sound similar. So you have this as I'm watching over my word to watch it or kind of thing, or I'm I'm watching over my word to fulfill it. So the idea is just as this almond tree is the first bloom of spring and announces the arrival of springtime, and when you see it, you know spring is coming. So God will fulfill his spoken word. He is watching to fulfill his word. As surely as the first blooms indicate spring, God is going to bring his word to pass. That's the idea of that vision. And then the second one is in thirteen and fourteen. Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot facing away from the north. Then the Lord said to me, Out of the north the evil will break forth on all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they will come and they will set each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls about, and against all the cities of Judah. So this vision is a little more ominous. Jeremiah sees a large pot or a cauldron set on fire that's about to boil over, and it's being fanned by flames from the north. And the idea here is just as the liquid is about to boil over, so disaster from the north is about to be set loose on Judah. And again, the assurance is that this is what God said is going to happen, and he's going to bring it to pass. And I think the reason God gives Jeremiah these messages is because Jeremiah himself has to be completely convinced that this is what God has said and intends to bring about. He can't proclaim this message over and over again unless he himself is completely convinced he's got the message right. This is what's going to happen. God is going to bring it about. And God does intend to bring it about. And I think that's the purpose of God giving him these visions, to assure him, you've heard right, this is what I'm going to do. So verse 16, I will pronounce my judgments on them concerning all their wickedness whereby they have forsaken me, and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and have worshipped the works of their own hands. So now he says, judgment is coming for two reasons. The covenant people have forsaken their God and they've offered sacrifices to other gods. So this is a clear breach of the covenant. Not only did they neglect to do their duty for God, they failed to keep their side of the bargain. They turned uh so not only did they fail to keep their side of the bargain, they worshipped other gods instead, gods they'd made with their old hand own hands. So they didn't do what they should have done, and then they did the things they should not have done, and now they face the consequences. God's judgment is about to fall. Look at seventeen through nineteen. Now gird up your loins and arise and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city, and as a pillar of iron, and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to the princes, to its priests, and to the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord. Essentially he sums up this calling with three things. He says, Brace yourself, speak the Lord's word, and don't be dismayed. Brace yourself because it's going to be a hard road. It's going to be a bumpy ride. It's not going to be easy. But speak the word I give you boldly and don't be afraid, because I have made you like an impregnable fortress, a fortified city, and a pillar of iron. You are going to stand, you are going to make it. And as we'll see in the dark days ahead, Jeremiah comes back to this and says, Are you still with me? So the rulers of the land or the officials and the priests, the ordinary citizens, the people, they're both going to fight against him, but they're not going to prevail. Powerful, influential folks are going to oppose him, but they will not overcome him because God is with him. So we see this kind of bracing, stern call, brace yourself. It's going to be hard. But then in the face of that, he gets this equally solid promise, a kind of triple guarantee, I am going to deliver you. You are going to succeed. You are going to deliver this world to my people. We're running out of time. So let's kind of summarize this. What does God want from us? What can we learn about our calling from Jeremiah's calling? And I think the overarching thing we learn is that God wants us to live in a relationship with Him so that we might bring life to others. And we can't short circuit that relationship with Him. If you want to bring life to others or you want to impact others, you have to have that relationship with God. So let me review what we learned. Number one, calling begins with God. God calls, we respond. We don't find our calling by finding ourselves, we find our calling by finding God. Number two, we're not alone in calling. God is always with us. He gives us his presence, he gives us a relationship with him. It's not something we do to please him, it's not something we do to earn his favor or keep his favor. It is part of his gift to us. God's going to equip us. He will equip us for what he calls us to do. He's with us every step of the way, and he will prepare and equip us for the tasks he appoints us to do. Number four, calling is going to look like failure at times. We're going to look at it and say, that couldn't possibly succeed. I couldn't possibly do that right. There are better people out there than me, and yet God is in the business of bringing failures like us into his kingdom and using us for his glory. Number five, success is faithfulness, not fame, fortune, or impact. So success is doing that and only that which God has called you to do faithfully, humbly. So you may not change the world, but that may not be what he's asked you to do. Success is being faithful. And number six, it's probably not going to be easy. So brace yourself by keeping your focus on God, not on yourself. And then boldly speak God's word and don't be dismayed. Let's pray. Father, thank you that you call each one of us, that you aren't just some cosmic watchmaker who set the world in motion, but that you form individuals. You love individuals, you form and consecrate and appoint. And we just pray that as we seek to follow you, that you would make our calling clear, that you would help us turn our eyes on you to see where you've placed us, the opportunities you've given us, the roles we might play, and that we would faithfully and humbly and with some measure of joy follow you wherever you take us. In Jesus' name. Amen.