Have you ever wished you were someone else?
I have struggled tremendously this year with wishing I was someone else as a speaker. If I am funny, it is not because humor just rolls of my tongue. I have agonized over wishing the Lord had not called me to such serious subjects like jealousy or forgiveness. Those subjects can be hard for women to face. I have wished that I was anyone but Shawn Lantz. The enemy has alternatively whispered and shouted to me that I have nothing to offer to women, so instead, I need to emulate someone else.
Believe me, I have tried!
My attempt always bombs big time.
I am participating in the most fascinating, sobering study of God’s Word I have ever done. Every Thursday, I sit under the teaching of Kay Arthur as I study the book of Jeremiah using the Precept method with some awesome women.
Chapter One of the book bearing his name gives me front-row seat to witness the extreme reluctance Jeremiah had over leaving his profession to become a prophet. I used to think the only way an individual who was godly could be written on the pages of Scripture was if he/she always had the ability to obey immediately without question.
I was WRONG!
The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
6 “Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. Jeremiah 1:5-9
Are you and I facing a task the Lord has called us to that brings with it a great temptation to not obey Him or to give Him excuses? Are we looking at our own inadequacies? Are we trying to be someone else or are we watering down the message He has given us to share because it is a difficult one that might bring rejection from the hearer?
He is with us! He has uniquely qualified us to do the work He has prepared for us before we were even born. Our personality, our strengths AND our weaknesses make us the perfect person for His work.
If He has called us, He will put His own words in our mouths. We just need to obey.
We don’t have to try to be anybody else.
What a relief!
