Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. (ESV)

Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong? I’m sure we all have at some point in our lives. I distinctly remember trying to find community at an Army base my husband was stationed at a few years ago. I walked into a weekly get-together, and it was as if I was invisible. No one spoke to me, no one even acknowledged my presence. Week after week I continued to go, and week after week I was ignored. I’m not a quitter, but when the commitment was over, I stopped attending, thinking, Why? Why should I even bother going back? I don’t belong here.

‍

I wonder if Jeremiah felt like he didn’t belong. He was a prophet to Israel approximately 600 years before Jesus’ birth, and he witnessed the downfall and exile of the Kingdom of Judah to Babylon, both events that he prophesied about to the Israelites. Most of his preaching fell on deaf ears, and only two people in the entire book of Jeremiah responded positively to his messages. It sounds like such a lonely and difficult life!

‍

Knowing everything Jeremiah would face, God’s reassurance to Jeremiah is so comforting. Before Jeremiah was even born, God knew him, God consecrated him, and God appointed him – all before the very beginning of his existence on earth!

Friends, this doesn’t apply only to Jeremiah. The Bible is full of God’s intentionality towards his creation. Psalm 139:13 says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

‍

I want you to hear this today:

You

Are

NOT

A

Mistake

‍

Any parent will know it’s always bad when you hear a crash, and then your kid says from another room, “Uh-oh.” But God’s not in the business of creating an “Uh-oh.” He actually can’t. Because he’s perfect, he cannot make mistakes. And in Christ, he has also consecrated you, meaning he has made you sacred and set apart. He designed you exactly how he intended you to be, down to every last freckle and hair on your head.

‍

I’m a very logical person, so follow the logic here with me for a minute: If God can’t make mistakes, then you - God’s beloved creation - are not a mistake. If you aren’t a mistake, then you must belong here. Right here, at this time, on this earth.

‍

Let’s read Jeremiah 1:5a again, but replace “you” with your name: “Before I formed _________ in the womb I knew ________, and before __________ w[as] born I consecrated __________.”

‍

How wonderful is that?! The Lord knows every little detail about you, all the good and all the bad, and still loves you so intensely.  

‍

Maybe you’re struggling to feel like you belong. After my attempt at finding community through that disastrous get-together, I could have given up, but I realized my identity doesn’t come from any one person or group, my identity comes from who my Creator says I am. Once I realized this, I finally discovered where – and to whom – I truly belong. I love our saying at ACF, “You don’t have to believe to belong.” God called Jeremiah before he did anything, and God has called you too. What’s the next step for you to grow as someone called by and belonging to God?

Heavenly Father, you have given us a place to belong and to be loved. Thank you for creating us all unique and different, but all in the image of you! We rejoice in knowing that you always know what you’re doing and have a plan for us. Help us to not lose sight of that and continue to search after your heart and your will. In Jesus’ name, Amen.