Wednesday, September 22, 2021

God's Calling ~ Jeremiah Redux

 


Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.  Jeremiah 1:6


Yesterday we spent time prayerfully pondering how our minds are endless spinning webs with threads of fear.  Today, I want to examine and explore how my mind can also come up with amazing excuses, especially when I am facing something difficult or daunting. 

One excuse is procrastination. I say, “I will totally get to that project…just as soon as I finish binge watching all of Netflix. Every. Single. Episode. Of. Every. Single. Show. I mean, someone has to do it.” 

Or another part of procrastination is striving for perfection.  We don’t want to do something until we are sure that someone will not be able to point out a flaw or foible in our thinking or acting or doing. 

Or another form of procrastination is to get lost in the endless bunny trails of research, that if we just read one more book than we will be ready. 

Another excuse can be to use our limitations as a shield.  Jeremiah does this by proclaiming, “I am only a boy.”  He hides behind youth and inexperience and inadequacies.  I get that.  I see my own mistakes and miscues.  To tie this back to yesterday, sometimes our fear is like a flashlight pointing out not only the possible pitfalls out there in the world but also within us, within our lives.  Fear like a flashlight that reminds us of how things went south in the past. 

Perhaps our greatest excuse is time.  To be sure, we cannot solve every problem.  We can spread ourselves so thin that we don’t have energy for anything.  Yet, with every breath we are given life to share life with others. 

Do any of the excuses above ring true for you?

Can we offer to God today the places where we have sidestepped and stayed on the sidelines where we think we are safe?  How might God again softly, “I am with you.” In ways that give us curiosity and courage to take a step (even a small step within our soul) toward living God’s realm today?  May you live the responses to those questions this day as a prayer to God.  Amen.


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