UNCOMMEN: KnownSample

Called Before You Were Ready

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” — Jeremiah 1:5

God has never once called a man who felt ready.

Moses had a stutter and a criminal record when God called him from a burning bush. Gideon was hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat in secret because he was afraid of his enemies, when the angel showed up and said, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” Jeremiah was a young man who protested that he did not know how to speak. David was the overlooked youngest brother whom his own father did not bother to call in from the field when the prophet came to anoint a king.

God has a history of calling the unqualified and making them capable. Not the other way around.

Jeremiah 1:5 is one of the most staggering verses in all of Scripture when you sit with it. Before God formed Jeremiah, he already knew him. Before he was born, God had already set him apart. Before Jeremiah had done a single thing to recommend himself, God had already consecrated him as a prophet to the nations. The calling preceded the capability. The purpose preceded the preparation.

That is not just Jeremiah’s story. It is yours.

You were not an accident. Your life is not a series of random events that God is trying to make the best of. Before you took your first breath, the Father who spoke the universe into existence already knew your name. He already knew what he was going to do with your life. He already knew the hard chapters, the failures, the comeback — and he called you anyway. You are not a plan B. You are exactly who he had in mind.

1 Corinthians 1 is bracingly honest about this. Paul says, “Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.” In other words: God did not recruit the obvious candidates. He went looking for the people the world had passed over, so that when the work got done, nobody would look at a resume and explain it away. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, so that no human being might boast before him.

This should be deeply encouraging, because most men reading this do not feel like the obvious candidate for the life God has given them. You look at your marriage and wonder whether you are actually equipped to love her the way she needs to be loved. You look at your kids and wonder if you are the right man for the job. You look at the calling you sense God has placed on your life, and you think, “Surely he has the wrong guy.”

He does not have the wrong guy. He has you. On purpose.

Exodus 3 gives you the pattern. When Moses asks, “Who am I that I should go?” God does not give him a pep talk about his qualifications. He says, “But I will be with you.” That is the answer. Not your ability. His presence. Not your readiness. His faithfulness. The calling is not based on what you bring to the table. It is based on who is sitting at the table with you.

Men, you were called before you felt ready because God does not wait for men to become ready. He prepares you as you go. He shapes your character as you act. He builds faith through obedience. You do not figure out who you are first and then step into your calling. You step into your calling and discover who you are along the way.

The husband who feels unequipped to lead his wife spiritually — lead anyway. The father who feels like he does not know what he is doing — shows up anyway. The man who senses a calling but feels like he has too much history for God to actually use — God’s track record on that point is very clear.

He called you. He will equip you. Step into it.

CHALLENGE
Name one thing you have been putting off because you do not feel ready. A conversation you need to have with your wife. A step of leadership in your home. A calling you have been burying. Write it down, and write Jeremiah 1:5 underneath it. Then do one thing today, however small, to move toward it. Readiness is not a prerequisite. Obedience is.

PRAYER
Father, thank you that you knew me before I knew myself, and you called me anyway. Forgive me for waiting to feel ready before stepping into what you have placed before me. Thank you that Moses’ answer was not his ability, but your presence. That is enough for me too. Give me the courage to move forward in the things you have called me to, even when I feel unqualified. Equip me as I go. Use my weakness to show your strength. In Jesus’ name, Amen.