Latest / The Divine Worth Podcast / Feeling Unqualified for Your Calling? | Come Follow Me Jeremiah 1
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_00: There have been many times throughout my life where the Lord would ask me
- 0:05SPEAKER_00: to do something and I would be just like frozen in fear and I'd be wondering,
- 0:11SPEAKER_00: you want me to do what?
- 0:13SPEAKER_00: I am so unqualified to do that.
- 0:17SPEAKER_00: I don't even know the first step to take to be able to accomplish what it is
- 0:23SPEAKER_00: that you are wanting me to do.
- 0:25SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Divine Worth Podcast,
- 0:27SPEAKER_00: where we are letting go of our fears and our self-doubt and those limiting thoughts
- 0:33SPEAKER_00: that keep us from being able to see who God sees in us.
- 0:39SPEAKER_00: I am your host, Life Coach Karen Papin, and together we are embracing God's view of who we are.
- 0:47SPEAKER_00: This week,
- 0:48SPEAKER_00: I want to share with you a story,
- 0:50SPEAKER_00: and it is also in this week's Come,
- 0:51SPEAKER_00: Follow Me,
- 0:52SPEAKER_00: but it's one that has really resonated with me over the last few years,
- 0:58SPEAKER_00: as I've really been trying to not just connect with the Lord,
- 1:03SPEAKER_00: but take action on those things that He has asked of me.
- 1:07SPEAKER_00: And as I said,
- 1:08SPEAKER_00: there are times where I'm just like,
- 1:11SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I can do what it is that you are asking of me.
- 1:17SPEAKER_00: And I feel like an imposter, and I feel like I am just not the right one for this.
- 1:24SPEAKER_00: And the prophet Jeremiah felt similar thanks.
- 1:29SPEAKER_00: And so in Jeremiah chapter 1,
- 1:34SPEAKER_00: the Lord tells him, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee.
- 1:41SPEAKER_00: And before thou camest forth out of the womb,
- 1:43SPEAKER_00: I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
- 1:49SPEAKER_00: Then said I, Ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.
- 1:55SPEAKER_00: Okay, so here the Lord is telling Jeremiah,
- 2:00SPEAKER_00: I know you,
- 2:01SPEAKER_00: and I have this purpose for you that I have had for you before you were even born.
- 2:08SPEAKER_00: And he calls him to be the prophet.
- 2:12SPEAKER_00: And Jeremiah's like, I can't do that.
- 2:16SPEAKER_00: I can't speak.
- 2:17SPEAKER_00: I'm just a child.
- 2:19SPEAKER_00: But the Lord said unto me,
- 2:21SPEAKER_00: Say not,
- 2:21SPEAKER_00: I am a child,
- 2:22SPEAKER_00: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee,
- 2:25SPEAKER_00: and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak.
- 2:29SPEAKER_00: Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
- 2:35SPEAKER_00: And then later on in that same chapter,
- 2:37SPEAKER_00: he tells them,
- 2:40SPEAKER_00: And they shall fight against thee,
- 2:41SPEAKER_00: but they shall not prevail against thee,
- 2:43SPEAKER_00: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.
- 2:48SPEAKER_00: And so, the Lord's not only telling him, hey,
- 2:51SPEAKER_00: I know you,
- 2:52SPEAKER_00: and you have this purpose,
- 2:55SPEAKER_00: but he's also letting him know,
- 2:57SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give you the guidance and the direction,
- 3:00SPEAKER_00: those words that I want you to speak, I will give them to you.
- 3:05SPEAKER_00: Trust in me.
- 3:07SPEAKER_00: And you will prevail.
- 3:09SPEAKER_00: Your enemies will not prevail.
- 3:11SPEAKER_00: You will prevail.
- 3:13SPEAKER_00: And I love this example of Jeremiah because as a child I struggled to speak.
- 3:21SPEAKER_00: My kindergarten teacher didn't know I could speak until she walked into the room
- 3:26SPEAKER_00: and it was just me and the school's cat.
- 3:28SPEAKER_00: And I was talking to the school's cat.
- 3:30SPEAKER_00: And then from there,
- 3:31SPEAKER_00: she was able to kind of bridge a connection so that I could at least start talking
- 3:35SPEAKER_00: to her, even though I still struggled talking to other people.
- 3:39SPEAKER_00: And so it was the step-by-step process for me to be able to first learn how to talk
- 3:46SPEAKER_00: to those outside my family and then to start talking to in groups of people and then
- 3:52SPEAKER_00: in larger groups of people and,
- 3:55SPEAKER_00: and When the Lord asked me to serve our mission,
- 3:58SPEAKER_00: I was called to the Salt Lake City,
- 3:59SPEAKER_00: Utah Temple Square Mission,
- 4:01SPEAKER_00: leading tours of people and also communicating one-on-one.
- 4:06SPEAKER_00: And so there was plenty of opportunities for me and since then for the Lord
- 4:14SPEAKER_00: to call me to say something or to reach out to someone or to serve in a calling
- 4:22SPEAKER_00: within the church where I felt like What is it that you're asking me?
- 4:29SPEAKER_00: You want me to do that?
- 4:32SPEAKER_00: And so one thing that I want to share with you,
- 4:37SPEAKER_00: and yet I've learned that the Lord does help us,
- 4:42SPEAKER_00: that He does give us the words,
- 4:45SPEAKER_00: and that He is there with us,
- 4:47SPEAKER_00: right next to us, in those moments, as we put our faith and trust in Him.
- 4:58SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we do let that fear come in.
- 5:02SPEAKER_00: And in those moments,
- 5:04SPEAKER_00: we are actually making it more about us than about the Lord and those
- 5:11SPEAKER_00: whom He is calling us to serve.
- 5:14SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to read, share with you a talk that really helped me when I was on my mission.
- 5:23SPEAKER_00: And it is called Rise to Your Call by President Henry B. Eyring.
- 5:29SPEAKER_00: And so here's the first quote I want to share with you.
- 5:31SPEAKER_00: Quote, A call to service should be primarily a matter of the heart.
- 5:36SPEAKER_00: It is by giving our whole hearts to the Master and keeping His commandments
- 5:42SPEAKER_00: that we come to know Him.
- 5:44SPEAKER_00: In time, through the power of the Atonement, our hearts are changed and we become like Him.
- 5:51SPEAKER_00: End quote.
- 5:52SPEAKER_00: So when we get caught up in our own fears and our own insecurities,
- 5:59SPEAKER_00: we are shifting our focus away from those matters of the heart.
- 6:04SPEAKER_00: We are shifting our focus away from the Lord.
- 6:07SPEAKER_00: And so I love the story of Peter walking on the water because he got out of the boat.
- 6:16SPEAKER_00: He sought the Lord.
- 6:18SPEAKER_00: Actually, I'm going to go ahead and dive into this.
- 6:21SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure I've shared this before.
- 6:24SPEAKER_00: So in Matthew chapter 14,
- 6:26SPEAKER_00: we're going to dive into Peter's story and see how it relates to ourselves and also
- 6:32SPEAKER_00: to the experience of Jeremiah.
- 6:35SPEAKER_00: Verse 24.
- 6:35SPEAKER_00: So just kind of setting up the scene here.
- 6:46SPEAKER_00: The disciples are out on the boat, and the Lord is not with them at this time.
- 6:54SPEAKER_00: He's actually grieving and resting and taking some time to himself,
- 7:00SPEAKER_00: because he is grieving John the Baptist,
- 7:03SPEAKER_00: his cousin, and the man who prepared the world for him.
- 7:08SPEAKER_00: And he had spent all of this day Instead of serving others.
- 7:14SPEAKER_00: And so now he is taking some time to himself.
- 7:18SPEAKER_00: His disciples are out on the boat.
- 7:21SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of wind and a lot of waves.
- 7:26SPEAKER_00: And the boat's getting tossed about.
- 7:29SPEAKER_00: And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea.
- 7:35SPEAKER_00: So it's nighttime.
- 7:36SPEAKER_00: It's dark.
- 7:37SPEAKER_00: Do you see the circumstances that are going on here?
- 7:40SPEAKER_00: It's dark and uncertain.
- 7:44SPEAKER_00: And when the disciples saw Him walking on the water,
- 7:46SPEAKER_00: they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit, and they cried out for fear.
- 7:52SPEAKER_00: Okay, in this moment, they are afraid.
- 7:55SPEAKER_00: Why are they afraid?
- 7:56SPEAKER_00: Because they do not understand.
- 7:59SPEAKER_00: They do not understand who it is that they are seeing.
- 8:04SPEAKER_00: But then what happens is that straightway Jesus spake unto them saying,
- 8:08SPEAKER_00: Be of good cheer, it is I.
- 8:10SPEAKER_00: Be not afraid.
- 8:13SPEAKER_00: And once they gain that clarity, Peter then
- 8:18SPEAKER_00: sees that it is the Lord.
- 8:22SPEAKER_00: And instead of focusing in on all those fears and the darkness and the waves and
- 8:27SPEAKER_00: the insecurity,
- 8:29SPEAKER_00: he says,
- 8:29SPEAKER_00: He calls out to the Lord and he says,
- 8:33SPEAKER_00: Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
- 8:39SPEAKER_00: And he wants to go to the Lord.
- 8:42SPEAKER_00: And he is focused on the Lord and he's wanting to go to the Lord and
- 8:50SPEAKER_00: to bring him unto them in this boat that they are in.
- 8:57SPEAKER_00: And he, the Lord, said, come.
- 9:01SPEAKER_00: And with that invitation, Peter gets out of the boat and begins to walk.
- 9:08SPEAKER_00: He walked on the water to go to Jesus.
- 9:13SPEAKER_00: And so right then and right there, he is taking action and he is doing something miraculous.
- 9:21SPEAKER_00: He is walking on the water as well.
- 9:25SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes when we feel that call,
- 9:28SPEAKER_00: we Peter's focus as he's walking on the water is the Lord.
- 9:54SPEAKER_00: Verse 30,
- 9:55SPEAKER_00: But when he saw the wind boisterous,
- 9:58SPEAKER_00: he was afraid, and beginning to seek, he cried, saying,
- 10:13SPEAKER_00: He's partly like, wow, I am doing this.
- 10:16SPEAKER_00: And then he's starting to realize, wait, there's winds and there's waves.
- 10:21SPEAKER_00: And this is like a stormy experience that I'm experiencing here.
- 10:24SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we start taking action And then we hit resistance or we start
- 10:31SPEAKER_00: to be like in awe of what we're doing.
- 10:34SPEAKER_00: And then we kind of start to self-sabotage in ourself in various ways,
- 10:38SPEAKER_00: including letting that fear in because we are taking our eyes off of the Lord and
- 10:43SPEAKER_00: the purpose of what we are doing.
- 10:47SPEAKER_00: And we focus in on that fear instead of the love that we have for those whom we are serving.
- 10:57SPEAKER_00: And for the Lord and for those whom we are serving.
- 11:00SPEAKER_00: And so that's what happens here.
- 11:03SPEAKER_00: And so Peter begins to sink, but he knows.
- 11:07SPEAKER_00: He knows who to call to.
- 11:10SPEAKER_00: And that's what he does.
- 11:12SPEAKER_00: He calls, save me, Lord, save me.
- 11:15SPEAKER_00: And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him,
- 11:19SPEAKER_00: O thou little doubt, wherefore didst thou doubt?
- 11:24SPEAKER_00: And right there, Christ was with him.
- 11:27SPEAKER_00: And so when we are doubting,
- 11:29SPEAKER_00: when we are struggling,
- 11:30SPEAKER_00: when we are like Jeremiah being like, wait, you're asking me?
- 11:34SPEAKER_00: I don't know what to say.
- 11:36SPEAKER_00: I am a child in these things.
- 11:42SPEAKER_00: The Lord is there ready to be able to help you fulfill the things that He is calling you to do.
- 11:49SPEAKER_00: Another quote from President Eyring's Rise to Your Call says this,
- 11:54SPEAKER_00: quote, This is the kingdom of God on the earth.
- 11:58SPEAKER_00: Because of that, it has a power beyond any other endeavor in which humans can engage.
- 12:05SPEAKER_00: That power depends on the faith of those called to serve in it.
- 12:10SPEAKER_00: And that's not the end of the quote,
- 12:15SPEAKER_00: but just a little thing that I want to add is that faith is Remember that even
- 12:22SPEAKER_00: if we have the faith of a mustard seed, we can move mountains.
- 12:26SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times it's those spiritual mountains that we're trying to move.
- 12:30SPEAKER_00: The difficult trials that we face when we are going about doing good.
- 12:35SPEAKER_00: Okay, sometimes we only have that particle of faith.
- 12:39SPEAKER_00: But we do what Alma the Younger counsels and nurture that seed of faith.
- 12:47SPEAKER_00: So that we can bring in that power that the Lord has given us.
- 12:52SPEAKER_00: Now back to the quote.
- 13:16SPEAKER_00: You are called of God.
- 13:18SPEAKER_00: The Lord knows you.
- 13:21SPEAKER_00: He knows whom He would have served in every position in His church.
- 13:26SPEAKER_00: He chose you.
- 13:27SPEAKER_00: He has prepared a way so that He could issue your call.
- 13:34SPEAKER_00: The Lord knows you.
- 13:35SPEAKER_00: He loves you.
- 13:37SPEAKER_00: As we learned in Jeremiah, 1.5.
- 13:41SPEAKER_00: He knew you before you were born.
- 13:43SPEAKER_00: You lived in the pre-existence with Him.
- 13:46SPEAKER_00: He understands you so well.
- 13:50SPEAKER_00: And the different things that you do here on earth are not surprises to Him.
- 13:55SPEAKER_00: Are you going to make mistakes?
- 13:57SPEAKER_00: Yes, you are.
- 13:59SPEAKER_00: That is part of the earthly experience that we as mortals go through.
- 14:05SPEAKER_00: And that is why He has prepared the Savior to be able to help us to overcome.
- 14:11SPEAKER_00: And we have Him with us as we continually refocus and turn back to the Lord.
- 14:21SPEAKER_00: When
- 14:24SPEAKER_00: Peter aligned himself with the Lord and called out to Him and
- 14:29SPEAKER_00: the Lord was right there to save him in the water...
- 14:34SPEAKER_00: It says, And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
- 14:38SPEAKER_00: So together they walked back to the water, they got in the boat, and the wind ceased.
- 14:46SPEAKER_00: And sometimes that walk back to the water, or back to the boat, is long.
- 14:53SPEAKER_00: It feels long, and it feels difficult.
- 14:56SPEAKER_00: But we stay with the Lord, and we continually humble ourselves and cry out to Him.
- 15:04SPEAKER_00: And we center ourselves.
- 15:06SPEAKER_00: And as we do that, we get back in the boat with the Lord there with us.
- 15:13SPEAKER_00: And the wind will cease.
- 15:16SPEAKER_00: The second thing that President Eyring says that we need to know is,
- 15:19SPEAKER_00: quote, The Lord will guide you by revelation just as He called you.
- 15:24SPEAKER_00: You must ask in faith for revelation to know what you are to do.
- 15:28SPEAKER_00: With your call comes the promise that answers will come.
- 15:32SPEAKER_00: End quote.
- 15:32SPEAKER_00: So, I love that promise that
- 15:51SPEAKER_00: The Lord is going to give us revelation.
- 15:54SPEAKER_00: As we are listening to Him and following the promptings that He is giving us,
- 16:00SPEAKER_00: He will give us the revelation that we need.
- 16:03SPEAKER_00: It says multiple times in the Scriptures, Ask, and ye shall receive.
- 16:08SPEAKER_00: Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
- 16:11SPEAKER_00: The Lord wants to communicate with us.
- 16:13SPEAKER_00: He wants to bless us.
- 16:15SPEAKER_00: But there is a condition here, and that is that we will follow through.
- 16:21SPEAKER_00: That we will show the Lord that we are committing to doing what He asks of us,
- 16:26SPEAKER_00: that we are obeying.
- 16:28SPEAKER_00: The Lord is patient with us.
- 16:31SPEAKER_00: Yet if we are not willing to get out of the boat or to call out to Him or
- 16:36SPEAKER_00: to take those steps back to the boat with Him, then we're going to struggle.
- 16:44SPEAKER_00: We're going to sink.
- 16:46SPEAKER_00: But if we have that faith, And we put forth that action and we take those faith steps forward.
- 16:54SPEAKER_00: And sometimes they are small little faith steps forward.
- 16:56SPEAKER_00: And sometimes they are,
- 16:58SPEAKER_00: well, He is asking a big thing of me here, but I know that He's here with me.
- 17:03SPEAKER_00: I remember the first time that I was successful in giving a talk in church,
- 17:10SPEAKER_00: I Came to gain a greater understanding that,
- 17:15SPEAKER_00: hey, the Lord can help me to be able to do this.
- 17:18SPEAKER_00: And so I got up there and I had my talk with me and I just said a little prayer
- 17:24SPEAKER_00: and said, okay, this is what you're asking me to do.
- 17:28SPEAKER_00: Please give me the ability to be able to speak.
- 17:32SPEAKER_00: Because in the past I couldn't get the words out,
- 17:34SPEAKER_00: but in this moment I had faith that the Lord would give me the ability to speak.
- 17:42SPEAKER_00: And as soon as I opened my mouth,
- 17:44SPEAKER_00: the words came,
- 17:46SPEAKER_00: and I began to give my talk,
- 17:47SPEAKER_00: and I was filled with peace,
- 17:50SPEAKER_00: because I could feel that the Lord was there,
- 17:53SPEAKER_00: supporting me,
- 17:54SPEAKER_00: sustaining me,
- 17:55SPEAKER_00: helping me to be able to fulfill what it is that He was asking of me to do.
- 18:00SPEAKER_00: And time and time again, the Lord will help you as you take that step of faith.
- 18:08SPEAKER_00: And then the third thing,
- 18:10SPEAKER_00: That President Irey mentions is,
- 18:11SPEAKER_00: quote, Just as God called you and will guide you, He will magnify you.
- 18:17SPEAKER_00: You will need that magnification.
- 18:20SPEAKER_00: Your calling will surely bring opposition.
- 18:23SPEAKER_00: You are in the master's service.
- 18:25SPEAKER_00: You are His representative.
- 18:27SPEAKER_00: Eternal lives depend on you.
- 18:30SPEAKER_00: He faced opposition, and he said that facing opposition would be the lot of those he called.
- 18:37SPEAKER_00: The forces arrayed against you will try not only to frustrate your work but to bring you down.
- 18:45SPEAKER_00: There will be times when you will feel overwhelmed.
- 18:48SPEAKER_00: One of the ways you will be attacked is with the feeling that you are inadequate.
- 18:52SPEAKER_00: Well, you are inadequate to answer a call to represent God with only your own powers.
- 18:59SPEAKER_00: But you have access to more than your natural capacities and you do not work alone.
- 19:06SPEAKER_00: End quote.
- 19:06SPEAKER_00: I remember another experience.
- 19:33SPEAKER_00: I remember giving my first tour on my mission and just the overwhelming fear
- 19:40SPEAKER_00: and anxiety that I was feeling.
- 19:43SPEAKER_00: And once again, I had had these experiences where I got up to speak and the Lord was with me.
- 19:49SPEAKER_00: And so I'm like, okay, Heavenly Father, here we go again, doing something that scares me.
- 19:54SPEAKER_00: And yet I know that this is what you want me to do.
- 19:56SPEAKER_00: So be with me, help me to be able to do what I need to do.
- 20:01SPEAKER_00: And so I gave that tour,
- 20:04SPEAKER_00: and I remember there was a woman on that tour who could tell that I was terrified.
- 20:11SPEAKER_00: And she told me that my example of going out,
- 20:21SPEAKER_00: serving a mission,
- 20:23SPEAKER_00: giving those tours,
- 20:24SPEAKER_00: doing those things that the Lord was asking of me,
- 20:26SPEAKER_00: even though I was afraid, gave her courage.
- 20:31SPEAKER_00: Because she had been investigating the church for a while.
- 20:34SPEAKER_00: And the one thing holding her back was giving up coffee.
- 20:38SPEAKER_00: And she realized that if the Lord could help me to be able to overcome that anxiety
- 20:45SPEAKER_00: and that fear in order to serve a mission and to speak,
- 20:49SPEAKER_00: that the Lord could help her to give up coffee so that she could turn to Him instead
- 20:57SPEAKER_00: and be baptized.
- 21:02SPEAKER_00: The Lord magnifies what we do.
- 21:09SPEAKER_00: And He also makes our weaknesses become strengths as we humble ourselves before Him.
- 21:15SPEAKER_00: You are capable.
- 21:17SPEAKER_00: You are of worth.
- 21:18SPEAKER_00: The Lord knows you.
- 21:20SPEAKER_00: He has a great plan for you.
- 21:22SPEAKER_00: And it is so worth taking action on that plan.
- 21:27SPEAKER_00: Because your eyes will be opened.
- 21:31SPEAKER_00: To be able to see that you are more capable than you realize.
- 21:37SPEAKER_00: And you will feel the Lord's love there for you.
- 21:41SPEAKER_00: Because the most precious thing that we can have in our lives
- 21:46SPEAKER_00: and what we are all seeking is to feel whole and to feel complete.
- 21:51SPEAKER_00: And that happens as we allow the love of the Lord to completely fill our souls.
- 22:00SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed this episode today and that you can recognize and see that
- 22:07SPEAKER_00: the Lord knows you and He has great purpose for you.
- 22:11SPEAKER_00: If you want to take this deeper, head over to my Substack.
- 22:15SPEAKER_00: For every podcast episode,
- 22:17SPEAKER_00: paid subscribers get a pack with four different ways to To apply what it is
- 22:25SPEAKER_00: that we discussed in this episode.
- 22:26SPEAKER_00: Because we don't all learn the same way.
- 22:29SPEAKER_00: So there's a journaling page if you like to write things out.
- 22:32SPEAKER_00: If you want to take this deeper, head over to my Substack.
- 22:36SPEAKER_00: For every podcast episode,
- 22:38SPEAKER_00: paid subscribers get a pack with four different ways to apply what it is
- 22:45SPEAKER_00: that we discussed in this episode.
- 22:47SPEAKER_00: Because we don't all learn the same way.
- 22:49SPEAKER_00: So there's a journaling page if you like to write things out.
- 22:53SPEAKER_00: There's a checklist of different things that you can do to take action on what we talked about.
- 22:58SPEAKER_00: And so...
- 22:59SPEAKER_00: You can just do those things and check them off.
- 23:02SPEAKER_00: There's a quick self-assessment if you're someone who just wants to know what
- 23:06SPEAKER_00: the next right step is until you answer just a few questions to determine
- 23:11SPEAKER_00: where you're at and then it will give you the next right step.
- 23:14SPEAKER_00: And then if you are someone who learns through conversing with others
- 23:19SPEAKER_00: and really talking things out, Thank you so much for joining us.
- 23:44SPEAKER_00: So be sure to check that out.
- 23:46SPEAKER_00: The link will be in the show notes and I will see you next week on the Divine Worth Podcast.