Jeremiah 1:4-10 (NASB) says, “4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6  Then I said, “Oh, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to save you,” declares the Lord. 9 Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10  See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to tear down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant.”

God tells Jeremiah that before he was ever formed in his mother’s womb that He knew him! Jeremiah was no mistake or accident, but he was called to be a prophet to the nations of the earth! Even though he was young, age is just a number to God! It is why God told Samuel when anointing David to be the next king that, “Man looks at the appearance, but I look at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). There is no such thing as a miniature or junior Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead lives on the inside of us (Romans 8:11). Therefore, we can surrender our right to be intimidated or offended by other people’s opinions because it does not negate the call of God on our personal lives!

The assurance Jeremiah had of this sound truth was God knew him before he was born. All he needed to do look at a “spiritual ultrasound” to identify what he was carrying. Statistically, if a pregnant mother who was contemplating having an abortion sees an ultrasound of their baby, 90% of the time she will decide to keep the baby because she realizes she is not carrying a “blob of flesh”, but someone who has life and purpose! Spiritually, we need to see through the lens of the Great Physician and not decide to not try to abort the purposes and plan of God for our lives. We may be afraid of what will happen if we spiritually travail and give birth to what we are carrying, but we can surrender that fear knowing God has the best in mind for us!

Just as Jeremiah, you are not an accident, but you were born for purpose! You are never too young to step into the callings of God upon your life, or prepare for them! You do not have to fear because God is WITH you to SAVE you! Do not abort what God’s plan is for your life because you may feel like it will be too difficult to handle or even inconvenient because in reality you are born for this. Be strong and courageous, Joshua, and realize who you are in Christ and who Christ is in you!