I am starting a study on the Book of Isaiah. Mainly, because I stand in awe of his foretelling of Christ and because I am totally overwhelmed and afraid of this book. It is huge. Its concepts and content are huge. Its prevalence in my life today, in your life, are huge.
So, with the New Year starting I thought, "Go big or go home." So here I am, very slowly, very tentatively attempting to understand the words of the great prophet Isaiah. And in that, trying to understand the life, calling and role of a prophet.
Today I learned that there are definitive characteristics of prophets found in God’s Word. One in particular that we see in the life of Jeremiah- that God came alongside him and strengthened him and bolstered him up for the work he was designed to do. The work he was designed to do.
That phrase sticks in my throat.
I am forty and I still wonder what it is I am designed to do. And at the same time, I see God coming alongside me every day. Sometimes, I see Him saving me from mis-steps or the Holy Spirit nudging me to pay attention to something. I often find myself praising Him for literally saving my butt on what could have been a big mistake or oversight.
So why don’t I feel like I am working where I am supposed to be? Why do I feel so lost and like such a failure in every step I take? Can it be that God calls us to work that we totally don’t fit into and then He carries us the entire way through it? Can it be that none of my actions are of my own and that He has me here for some reason I may never understand until I am home with Him?
That’s a scary and thrilling reality at the same time. Can I take that information and just present myself to a Holy God every day with no plan? No strategic map. No idea where this is going. Just a “here I am so tell me what to do today” thing?
All of these prophets were in such awkward and sometimes very lonely positions. I wonder if they felt a confidence though, knowing that they were where they were supposed to be? I wonder if they were lonely in their quest but secure in their place?
What I do know helps me. I know that God is unchanging. Always and forever, He will be the same. The same gracious, loving and caring Father. The same God that loved the prophets loves you and I today. So that means that He will come alongside every faithful believer, even those that are clueless as to what they are supposed to be doing with their lives. It may not make sense, but it might not have to. It might be a life of wondering if this is the right spot on the map, and our only concern is to let Him step up to our side and carry us.