Longing for me

Rhona Cathcart March 24, 2022 0 1

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Jeremiah 1: 4-8 (NRSVA)

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 appointed you a prophet to the nations.’

6 Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ 7 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.
8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.’

One of our deepest longings especially when we are young, can be the longing to prove ourselves. We have an idea of what we could or should achieve, and we want to be seen and recognised for it. Our awareness of ageing and mortality can add to the pressure, making us feel as if we are on a timer which is counting down. Our brains tells us we need to do X by the time it gets to Y.

That’s not the way God sees us.

He isn’t a coach standing at the sidelines with a stopwatch. He sees all that we are — past, present and future; potential and achievement, success and failure. It’s not easy to get our heads around the idea that before we are even born God sees and knows everything about us. We can only make sense of it by trying to grasp that God is outside of time. Because of this he can say to the boy Jeremiah that He sees and knows the man Jeremiah is destined to become. In the same way he knows you and me.

PRAYER:

God, you search me and you know me

You know what you are looking for

The me you created.

The me that lies somewhere beneath the layers I have built up.

The me you know and see

The me you have always known and seen.

Lord, I long for that me.