WEEK FOUR

Week Four

I have always admired the prophet Jeremiah. He was a most reluctant prophet, literally dragged ‘kicking and screaming’ in protest at the mission God was calling him for. He compared himself to a trusting lamb led to slaughter (Jeremiah 11:19), asking God why he was even born (Jeremiah 15:10-11), and accusing God of allowing his enemies to throw him into a pit (Jeremiah 18:19-20) and mock him (Jeremiah 20:7).

Yet he courageously continued to move forward, calling the summons of God a ‘fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones’ (Jeremiah 20:9), a summons he must fulfill. The last thing I expected to be doing was ministering in a Catholic parish, and it took me until my mid-forties to even begin to pay attention to God’s call on my life.  Ministry can be difficult, and like Jeremiah,
God sometimes has to drag me ‘kicking and screaming’ in protest at what is before me.  Yet His call to ministry has been like a fire burning in my bones, a fire I cannot ignore.

Jeremiah 12:5a (NABRE) proclaims:

If running against men has wearied you,
How will you race against horses?

We have each been created for a unique mission on this side of eternity, and if we don’t fulfill our mission, there is a gap in the universe. We are called to courageously move forward into the mission He has set before us, whatever it might be. We are called to race with the horses, not limp along wearily with men.

We are now at ‘such a time as this’, when we are being summoned to race with the horses. How can we do that?  We can, in our prayer time:

• Ask God what your mission might be in such a time as this.  Using your journal, reflect on what your mission is.
• Ask God what are the obstacles to racing with the horses. Journal the obstacles that hinder you and pray through each one, asking God what you need to fulfill your unique mission.
• Finally, move forward in your God-given mission, knowing that we serve a God who equips His people for ministry.

Rise up and race forward for such a time as this.