Too Young, Too Old

[00:00:00] Foreign. [00:00:06] Pastor Chuck Allen here with another weekday podcast. And on this Tuesday, we started yesterday, a series talking about just boldness, unusual everyday people boldness. Today I want to tackle age. [00:00:24] I'm too young, too old, too whatever. And let's start in Jeremiah, chapter one. I think we ought to address the elephant in the room, which is our excuses. [00:00:38] The. The polished kind, the. The post that we use. I mean, the. The kind we rehearse in the car. I'm too young. I'm too old. I don't know enough. I've messed up too much. We wrap them in spiritual language sometimes, but they're still fearful With a church he had on, Jeremiah tried this move with God. And when the Lord calls him to speak to the nations, Jeremiah says essentially, lord, you got the wrong guy. Jeremiah 1:6 captures it this way. O sovereign Lord, I said, I can't speak for you. I'm too young. [00:01:17] Now God doesn't say, you know what, Jeremiah? You're right, my bad. [00:01:21] Instead, the Lord confronts the excuse head on. [00:01:24] He says, don't say I'm too young, for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. [00:01:34] So God doesn't argue with Jeremiah's resume. He reframes Jeremiah's reality. The focus shifts from Jeremiah's capacity to God's calling, from Jeremiah's age to. To God's presence. [00:01:49] In verse 8, the Lord says, and don't be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and I will protect you. I, the Lord have spoken. [00:02:00] The antidote to our fear is not self confidence, y'. All. The antidote to our fear is God confidence. [00:02:10] Now bring that into your Tuesday morning. [00:02:13] You feel a nudge to encourage a co worker who's clearly been struggling, but you think they're going to think I'm just weird. [00:02:20] And you feel prompted to offer to pray with someone in the waiting room, but you think, I don't really know what to say. [00:02:27] Or you sense that God is asking you to start a Bible study at work or invite a neighbor to church, or share a story of what Jesus has done in your life and you say, oh, sovereign Lord, I can't speak for you. I'm too well, whatever. [00:02:41] What if in that moment you heard Jeremiah 1 spoken over you and you could hear the Lord say to you, don't say I'm too young. [00:02:51] Don't say I'm too old. [00:02:53] Don't say I don't know enough. [00:02:56] You must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. [00:03:01] Friends, what if the most spiritual thing you could do today is retire your favorite excuse. [00:03:09] Here's a small, very practical step Name your two, your t o o Name your two. Say it out loud, Lord, I keep saying I'm too blank and then just surrender it, lay it down. [00:03:24] But you say you're with me. You say you will protect me. You say I must go and speak what you give me. [00:03:31] What am I going to do with that, Lord? [00:03:33] Listen to this boldness, y'. All. Boldness begins when we stop arguing with God about who we are and we start agreeing with God about who he is. [00:03:44] Friend, your sphere of influence, your friends, your family, your workplace, wherever you're at the gym, your sphere of influence needs a Jeremiah and God's calling you to fill that gap. [00:03:58] Not a perfect prophet with a flawless track record in some pedigree of extraordinary, you know, just, just rule following and education. [00:04:08] I mean we're looking for and God's looking for and the Lord's wanting to use and the world's in desperate need of a reluctant, anxious, excuse prone person like us who finally says, I think he's talking to me and step into that yes, today, friend, the Lord has called us to it. Let's be faithful to run there and trust him in it. God bless you. Have a great day and thanks for joining me on today's weekday podcast.