God's Calling ~ Jeremiah Redux

 

Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.  Jeremiah 1:8

The author Joshua Fletcher says that FEAR is an acronym that stands for: False Evidence Appearing Real.  Our minds contort to convince us that we have it all figured out ~ whatever “it” is.  Yet, how often have I uttered the words, “If I knew then what I know now.”  To be sure, in that past moment, I used the best interpretation of the evidence I could.  I didn’t mean to make a boneheaded mistake.  But sometimes my future self looks back at my past self, shaking its head.  How could I have not seen that the person’s negative comment was really more about him?  Why did I spend hours composing emails in my mind at 3 am?  Why did I create countless fictional problems to solve rather than hold the situation lightly? 

To be sure, we live in a world of a lot of false evidence.  Usually, we want to convince others to see the error in their thinking, but never step back to realize how much we resist someone trying to convince us of our errors?  But just as people might have warned me about possible pitfalls and I just couldn’t hear; sometimes the people we try to help can’t hear or won’t hear or don’t want to hear.  People are at different places and can’t always see from my perspective.  What I love about Joshua’s acronym is it reminds me that I don’t often see clearly.  I can let fear cloud my vision.  Often we fear the future.  Our brains are absolutely brilliant at coming up with countless, “What if” scenarios.  We do this for our health, what if that pain is really cancer?  What if that person never speaks to me again?  What if I get laid off from work or the painful situation doesn’t resolve itself?  My mind can spin in the mucky mud of “what if” for hours.  If this was an Olympic activity, I would have a good chance at bringing home the gold. 

God’s response to fear is not to dismiss the thoughts as irrational or distance the divine from what we are feeling.  Rather, God moves into the discomfort.  God makes God’s home amid the chaos and clutter of our dis-ease in life.  God promises Jeremiah to be with him as Jeremiah seeks to share God’s word in the world (remember the sermon Jeremiah was given from yesterday), especially when God’s word is hard to hear and even harder to live.  The promise of God’s presence is not some money-back guarantee, it is a hope to get through the stress and storms. 

We can encounter God’s presence when we slow down. 

Breathe. 

Notice and name the fears that seem so real and often are. 

What fears roam and rummage around your life right now?  Do you have a moment when something seemed so real, but ended up later to seem less significant?  Let these questions move you into a moment of prayer and may you hear God softly saying, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”  Amen.