"Now, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.'
Then I said, 'Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.'
But the Lord said to me, 'Do not say 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,' declares the Lord."
Jeremiah 1:4-8 (ESV)
Comment:
It doesn't matter what age you are to God. If he has called you for a specific purpose, he expects you to act upon it. It doesn't matter if you are sixteen, eighteen, or fifty-four, if you have heard your call from the Lord you must be ready to answer it.
Many believers face this dilemma. We seem to have this mentality that we can't expect to hear our calling from God until we are well into our adult years and have much more maturity in our faith and beliefs. But the reality that our fleshly focused minds just can't seem to grasp is that God can call us at any age and at any stage of life.
But this can only happen if our hearts and minds are in the right place and we have our ears open and ready to listen attentively to the voice of our Father. If we have been brought to that point in our faith, it doesn't matter what age we are, we will be ready to answer the call when we hear it.
Just look at this above passage, God saw no problem with Jeremiah's age. He just told the youth not to worry or be afraid for He would be with him and protect him. If we hear the call of God for our lives, we should not be afraid to answer it because we have the faith and knowledge that if God called, he will protect us and provide everything we will need.
Lily