Jeremiah 12:5 "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?"
Jackie Evancho. A household name for anyone who followed the fifth season of America's Got Talent. She is a bright eyed ten year old girl who submitted a YouTube entry to make it onto the show. Jackie went on to be first runner up to this season's winner. If you have no idea who she is, just plug her name into google, and you'll find plenty of links. Be prepared to be amazed.
To look at Jackie Evancho, you wouldn't think she held any spectacular talent. Sure, she's adorable, polite, has the sweetest smile and eye combination, but her talent is what blows you out of the water. You see, out of this little package of a girl, is one enormously mature voice. Yes, she has a gift, but she hasn't rested in the talent alone. She practices for hours each day, working to get better. Jackie doesn't even know her own capacity at this point. As one of the judges told her, "The sky is the limit."
As I talked with my husband about the verse to learn for this week, he suggested Jeremiah 12:5. It's his new favorite verse, and to be honest, I think it might become one of mine as well. In chapter twelve, Jeremiah becomes weary. He's been obedient to proclaim God's judgment to the people, and he finally feels like he's about had it. Basically, he asks God to just annihilate the wicked so he doesn't have to deal with them anymore. Then in verse five, God goes on to answer Jeremiah's plea.
Look at the first part of the verse. God replied to Jeremiah, "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?" How many times am I just like Jeremiah? I've been obedient. I feel like I've put in my time, and even with a good attitude, too. But I get tired of obeying and not necessarily seeing results. I become weary and tired. But in true God fashion, He saw the big picture that Jeremiah could not see. And today, God sees the same big picture that we can't, too.
Do you want to give up? Are you tired and weary, just like Jeremiah? I believe God wants to teach us endurance in the current race, so He can move us to an even bigger race. That's what He was saying to Jeremiah. If racing with men wears you out, how are you going to compete at the next level I have for you? You have to endure now, go through the growing pains God has for you, and pay the price. Then God will move you to were He wants you to be, that next level, and then the next, and then the next.
I can't help but think of the verse in I Corinthians 2:9: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." Do you ever dream? Do you ever dream big things for God? I do. I have a lot of goals of what I want to do for Him. Then when I read this verse, I'm amazed to think those big goals that I have set are nothing compared to what God has prepared for me. But if I want to accomplish those big goals, I can't get tired and weary right now, when I'm not even close to running with the horses.
Like Jackie Evancho, we don't even know our full potential. We have no idea what God wants to do with our lives. But if we complain about where we are now, if we become tired of the current race we're in, how will we ever know the next race God wants us to participate in? The verse ends with a similar, yet just as powerful comparison: "If you stumble in the safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?"
Think about your current "race", your current situation. It's important to not become weary, like Jeremiah, but one thing that's easy to forget is that you have to be active. You see, just being in the race doesn't count. I can be a contestant in a race but never finish. Galatians 6:9 says, "And let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." The verse doesn't say, "Don't become weary, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest." No, the verse has an action with it: don't be weary in doing good!
Just being in the race isn't good enough. If Jackie Evancho had never practiced, sure, she would have raw talent, but she would never get to the point where "the sky is the limit." And the truth is, with God, "the sky is the limit" with each one of us. God wants us to have the faith and perseverance to believe that, too.
I don't know about you, but I really needed this reminder this week. You see, my family has been in a holding pattern with God for quite some time now. We've been waiting on God for direction in several areas. We've been actively seeking Him and asking Him to show us what His will is. Yet, despite our repeated pleas, He has not yet given us an answer. Today God is telling me not to get tired. He's telling me He has a plan, one so amazing that I can't even imagine it. But if I'm going to get to that next level with Him, I have to be to the point in my life that I don't become weak in my current race.
So for now, I'm going to keep running with men, until God moves me into the next level of competing with horses. What about you? Which race are you in?
---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com