"Call Unto Me"
A Devotional Message

(Jeremiah 33:1-3 KJV) "Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying, {2} Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; {3} Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

The "word of the Lord" had come to Jeremiah many times in his life. God knew Jeremiah first while he was yet in his mother's womb:

(Jeremiah 1:5 KJV) "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."

Even before he was formed as all children are formed. God knew Jeremiah from the beginning, from BEFORE his own beginning, and ordered his life so that he would be a prophet to the nations. When God called Jeremiah at the beginning, Jeremiah protested. "Father, I'm not able. I'm only a child, I have no great learning, I have no degrees". How many times has God called man, only to be told "I'm unworthy, I'm unable, I can't do it, Lord". He called Moses, and Moses responded, "Lord, I stutter. I cannot speak to Egypt, I have no ability". The father and kin of David told Samuel the prophet, "He's only a shepherd boy - what can he do against mighty Goliath? Become king of Israel - that's ludicrous!" Abraham, the father of faith and of Israel, gave up his wife to another in order to save his own life (Genesis 12:13). Peter, the Great Apostle, ran and his while our Lord Jesus suffered the humiliation of the Cross, and Paul went to Jerusalem though he was warned several times to stay away.

Jeremiah was not great, and knew he was not great. But what does this matter for, like Jeremiah, we are all in the hands of a loving God. From the womb our Father decreed that Jeremiah would serve Him as a prophet to disobedient Judah. Judah would not hear Jeremiah, nor would he have many converts to the messages that he brought. In fact, Jeremiah's ministry would be so trying that he would become known as the "weeping Prophet" - not so much because he wept, but because the children of Israel would ignore the warnings that God sent through him, and would weep in repentance over their failure.

There are three things that I want us to focus on today as we look at this text. The first is this:

1. We Cannot Always Control Our Situation

As I look around this room today, I see people of all different shapes and sizes. Some are in wheelchairs, some a little hard of hearing, some a little hard of seeing. We cannot always control the situation that we're placed in. The Bible text we read at the beginning showed us that Jeremiah, the Great Prophet called of God, was "shut up in the court of the prison". In essence, he was imprisoned for telling the people the Word of God. He was called by God to be a Prophet to Judah and the nations round about Judah, and Jeremiah faithfully did as God asked. Did the people repent? No! Did they hear the message? No! What did they do?

They threw him in prison for telling them the truth.

As Jeremiah sat in that prison, in the court of the prison, I can imagine that despair perhaps started tugging at his heart. "Hear I am, doing God's work, just as He told me. What's my reward? I'm thrown in prison, cast away in darkness, locked up for telling the truth". Perhaps Jeremiah looked at his situation, perhaps he looked at his seemingly hopeless state, and felt like giving up. Yet, though he was locked up, Father came to him and told him to look BEYOND the situation he was in, and TOWARD where the Lord would take him.

We cannot control our situation. I have limitation in my body, weaknesses, pain - perhaps as some of you have - loneliness. We cannot control our limitations, but we can LOOK BEYOND our limitations and call unto the Father. The Lord told Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

We can call upon God, even in our darkest moments. We can call on God when our situation overwhelms us. We must call on God, looking away from the situation and toward our Father, for:

2. We Are Within God's Plan

Just as Jeremiah was in God's Plan from the very beginning, each of us who have accepted Christ as Savior are in God's Plan. What does the Scripture say?

(Romans 8:28 KJV) "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

What an amazing statement, this! We cannot control our situation, but our Heavenly Father controls our situation. We cannot make ourselves stronger or weaker by willing it, but God controls our very self according to His good pleasure. Our Lord Jesus said this to us:

(Matthew 6:27-34 KJV) "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? {28} And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: {29} And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. {30} Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? {31} Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? {32} (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. {33} But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. {34} Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

We may not be in control of the situation, but our Heavenly Father is. We may not be able to change one thing in our lives, but our Father controls all. We who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, we are the called "according to His purpose" - and He will guide our lives no matter what. Jeremiah in prison, probably the worst preacher in terms of results or converts in all history, rejected by family and friends, perhaps despaired. Yet the Lord told him,

"Don't despair, Jeremiah! Call unto Me - I will answer thee - and show you great and mighty things which have been hidden from you".

We are within God's plan and, as Creatures with purpose, children of God, beloved of Jesus, indwelt by the Spirit, we must learn to look away from where we are, and:

3. Focus On What Our Calling Is

Believer, I have been rejected of men many times since submitting to the call to the ministry. Like Jeremiah, the message God gave me to preach has been rejected many times while the flock went off to follow other things, unrighteous things, evil ways. There have been times I have wanted to toss it all aside, reject the ministry, walk away from it all.

Yet He has called me.

You and I have no control over our situations. We have no control over whether others will hear the message or not. We have no control over our own bodily weaknesses. Yet, like Jeremiah, you have been called to serve. Not as Prophet, but serve as Jesus has asked you to serve. Jesus said:

(Matthew 5:14-16 KJV) "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. {15} Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. {16} Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

If you know Christ as Savior, His light shines in you. Reveal that light where you live. Show it to the nurses, the attendants, the visitors. Show that light to others.

The Light you possess was purchased at a terrible price. The Cross that Jesus died on was not shiny and pretty, as we like to show it, but was blood stained. The Romans reused their crosses, and the cross that Christ bore to Calvary had the blood of others impregnated into its wood. When Jesus laid His torn back on this ragged tree, and had the nails driven home, He did it following the Greater Plan of God.

We are no different, you and I. From eternity past, God has had a plan for our lives, a plan that will only be fulfilled when we submit to His Calling, accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. Then, as the Light of the World, we need to sit aside our petty differences and proclaim Jesus for all to hear.

We cannot control our situation, but we can control how we respond to it. We can call unto Him, and He will answer us, and show us great and mighty things which we did not know. We can call on Him, and He can reveal the peace that only He can bring in our lives.