“Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 1:8).

 We do not know how old Jeremiah was when the Lord called him into the ministry. Apparently Jeremiah was not very old. In fact, one of the excuses Jeremiah offered to the Lord was his young age. The Lord explained to Jeremiah that his age was not going to keep him from serving. Jeremiah must’ve been terrified because the Lord told him, “Be not afraid of their faces.” The third year Bible college student arrived at the church very early that morning and waited in the parking lot. He was to preach his first sermon for the congregation that was without a pastor. The attractive church building sat nestled in the hills on that beautiful fall morning. The longer he waited, the more nervous he became. As the service began, the young man sat in the front row and asked the Lord again for help. Before he knew it, the deacon was introducing him as the guest speaker, and it was time to go to the platform. Suddenly the wonderful verse from Jeremiah 1:8 came to his mind. As he stepped to the pulpit he opened his Bible, looked up, remembered not to be afraid of their faces, and had a delightful time preaching in the same church that would later call him to become their pastor.

 For today: What are you afraid of? Remember, our confidence is not in ourselves. It’s in the Lord!