God Does Not Force Us

Jeremiah 1:4-10 (MSG)

4b:       This is what God said:

   5 “Before I shaped you in the womb,    I knew all 
about you. Before you saw the light of day,  
  I had holy plans for you:A prophet to the nations—    
that’s what I had in mind for you.”    6     
   
6 - But I said, “Hold it, Master God! Look at me.
I don’t know anything. I’m only a boy!”

    9 7-8 

God told me, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a boy.’

I’ll tell you where to go and you’ll go there.

I’ll tell you what to say and you’ll say it.

Don’t be afraid of a soul.

I’ll be right there, looking after you.”

God’s Decree.

9-10: God reached out, touched my mouth, and said,

“Look! I’ve just put my words in your mouth—hand-delivered!

See what I’ve done? I’ve given you a job to do

    among nations and governments—a red-letter day!

Your job is to pull up and tear down,

    take apart and demolish,

And then start over,

    building and planting.”

This is the verse I am going to use for this entry about being forced into something vs. being commanded to do something. Here are the two meanings of the words and I love how they are explained: 

Forced: strained, unnatural, or affected

and 

Commanded: to have or exercise authority or control over or expertise or mastery.

A friend said it like this or close to it, "We are not forced to do what we like but it is what God has commanded us to do".

I gave my friend the same verses as I have on here because my friend is going through a time of change. To me, God is telling me through the verses that you (us) have the passions and talents to go do what I have told you to do if not I will give them to you. There is no excuse for why you shouldn't be doing it. You should be leaving a legacy behind for Me. 

         The verses were given to me in a small country church this pass Sunday morning. It was my parents' church and the preacher was so passionate about it. It got me thinking about my own future and what I want to do with it. Am I really leaving behind a legacy that people will remember me for? Am I really making an impact on people's lives? Now it is funny that I ask those type of questions because if you know me and where I work then you would say, "of course you do."

         I guess the really question is "am I leaving enough of a legacy behind?" Have I touched the children enough to where they will remember what I have taught them and how I have loved them no matter what? I do always ask that question at the end of the day and I know I should but that is just the kind of person I am. Praying and hoping that they are getting the best care that they can and that I don't miss a beat. 

        We are not forced to go out into a field that we do not know anything about and work for God in it. God does not force His Children. Instead, He watches over them and gives them the skills and passion they need to get the job done for His Glory, not theirs. He waits for them until they are ready to go onto the next level. He waits until they open the door. It is funny how God works on two people's heart with the same feeling in them and that is to make an impact no matter the way you are doing it. 

        God knows what He is doing when He is putting each of us together before we are put here on this earth. He has knitted us in our mother's womb with the prefect skills and talents. He wants us to be happy while we are on this earth so we need to pay attention to what we are most passionate about. It might be something hard like mine is but yet very rewarding and everyday, at the end of the day, I know God has done, if not one thing, at least a million of things. 

          Sometimes we don't see those things but we can trust that they are there and will grow. This is something that I have thought a lot about this week with a couple of things going on and what is going to happen next to those things but we can't even try to understand what God has in store for us down the road. Trusting His Will and letting Him Lead is all we can do until we get to see Him face to face one day in the Great Place called "Heaven".