I'm sure I have read this before, but it jumped out at me differently when I read it a few weeks ago, as I sat on my back deck before bed one summer night.
God had a task for Jeremiah; Jeremiah gave God his excuses; God reassured him...that pretty much sums up the story, right?
Three words from God and Jeremiah's conversation kept stealing my attention: "Do not say..."
I wonder how many times in an average day God says this to me:
Do not say you aren't good enough.
Do not say you look bad.
Do not say you will never beat this.
Do not say it's impossible.
Do not say you're incapable....
Although patiently listening and helping me work through my doubts, what is he really thinking as I mentally build a case against myself---against one of his own children that he loves and continually helps?
Maybe he has the same thoughts I do when I introduce a new piano piece to some of my students. One little girl with brown braids and blue eyes recently stumbled through the first line, then dropped her hands and sighed, "It's too hard!" As always, I thought (and probably said), "Too hard?! Don't give up because it's hard! Look at how far you have come already! And don't I always help you?! You are going to do SO much more than this!"
I'm sure that is what he was saying to Jeremiah. I'm sure that is what he says to me when I become discouraged with my skills, my personality, my appearance, my weaknesses...I'm sure I often forget how powerful the one offering his help really is, no matter how weak I sometimes feel. I'm sure he desires to turn my mind away from thoughts that beat me down, thoughts that try to convince me I'm less than all he created.
Maybe I am often too entrenched in my own excuses to even hear him whisper:
"Do not say...."
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