Only a Youth

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18th May: Only a Youth

Then I said, 'Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth'. Jeremiah 1:6

My first week in hospital after graduation found me interviewing new outpatients. The mature-looking woman who had just come in was obviously surprised. 'Are you the doctor?' was less a question than an exclamation, tinged (I felt) with dismay and even scorn. Who could blame her? I was only 22, and I looked much younger. Like Jeremiah, I was acutely conscious of my youth. But I listened, arranged for an interview with an appropriate specialist, and all was well. I felt not quite so young.

Then another woman sat facing me. Her lined face and hunted eyes told their own story. Oblivious of my youth, she poured out her misery -- illness and pain of body and mind in an atmosphere of domestic hell. The detail was intimate, frank and to me horrifying. Again I listened, referred her for specialist advice, and all was well. But this time I knew I was young with much to learn.

Jeremiah was at most in his early twenties when God called him to an awesome task -- to be a 'prophet to the nations'. He shrank back. 'I am only a youth,' he pleaded. Many translations say 'only a child'. He felt very, very young.

But the Lord would have none of it: '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. Be not afraid of them for I am with you to deliver you'. 'Then', writes Jeremiah, 'the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth...' And he went out to a life of tough service.

Many a newly fledged doctor, young man or young woman, must feel like Jeremiah. I did, and I still remember it, though it was many years ago. Most of us are not called to Jeremiah's kind of life. But a medical life is one of great responsibility and privilege. It can be tough. If God calls us to it, he will equip us for it. He will undertake for youth or for age and for much else.

Lord, take me just as I am. Use me to meet the
needs of others as you show them to me. And touch
my mouth that I may know when and how to speak, and
when to keep silent and listen.