God calls people in all ages and stages (2024)

Jeremiah 1
6 “Ah, LORD God,” I said, “I don’t know how to speak
because I’m only a child.”
7 The LORD responded,
“Don’t say, ‘I’m only a child.’
Where I send you, you must go;
what I tell you, you must say.
8 Don’t be afraid of them,
because I’m with you to rescue you,”
declares the LORD.

Joel 2
28 After that I will pour out my spirit upon everyone;
your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 In those days, I will also pour out my spirit
on the male and female slaves.

Often great artwork (like Michelangelo’s “Moses”) shapes our view of who God works through. That can lead us to expect God to work mainly through older figures. God has done that, calling aged Abram (cf. Genesis 12:4) or Moses, age 80 when he set out to deliver Israel from slavery (cf. Exodus 7:7). But God didn’t accept Jeremiah’s protest that he was too young to be effective as a prophet. The lesser-known prophet Joel pictured God pouring out God’s spirit on people of all ages and all status.

• Scholar John Goldingay said we don’t know exactly how old Jeremiah was: “just a young man—maybe in his twenties, maybe even younger. A culture such as Israel’s recognizes that wisdom lies with people more senior.” Except not always: “God isn’t constrained by the way things usually work.” * Are you ever tempted to discount someone’s testimony because you think they are “too young” (or “too old,” for that matter)?

• Joel’s message (which the apostle Peter quoted on the Day of Pentecost—cf. Acts 2:12-21) showed God’s desire to work through people of all ages and social standings. “God’s call to Jeremiah is not meant as a model of God’s call to believers in the sense that we should all seek an experience with God like that of Jeremiah…. God does not call all believers to be prophets.” ** What has helped you (or might help you) develop a clearer sense of God’s calling on your life?

Despite my best efforts, I have yet to successfully put the Almighty “calling and commissioning” God in a box. I have shoved, squeezed, and pulled out the duct tape to make the edges meet so God can “live” in a neat little square space that represents all I’m comfortable being called to do for the kingdom of God. Anything that would require little and allow me to extend love only to those I’m comfortable loving. My God in a Box is easy to carry; I can wrap this God up in the colors I choose, complete with a bow. I package God up to be palatable and pleasing to keep from having to feel the uncertainty of the unknown. But God doesn’t stay in boxes. The Almighty busts out of limitations and taped-together borders we do not so cleverly place Him in.

There’s something about the uncertainty of life that scares us more as we get older. Perhaps I’m alone in thinking that, but I doubt it. One thing I’ve observed as a youth pastor is the tenacity and fearlessness of young people. And when I think about the young leaders of the bible like Jeremiah, Daniel, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, I am not surprised that God chose and continues to call young people to be leaders in bringing the Good News into the world. I’ve seen older generations disregard what younger generations can do, and time and time again, the next generation shows up in powerful ways to be game changers and light bearers in their churches, schools, friend groups, and families. I have the pleasure of teaching and pastoring 6th – 12th graders, and I have seen in abundance the capacity of these students to show me a new perspective of what God can do in and through them.

My students have shown me that God does indeed call people of all ages and stages to be conduits of His power and love. And I don’t have to look any further than in the mirror to see that God honestly doesn’t care who you are, where you come from, what you used to do, how many wrinkles you have, or how little experience you have. I’m neither a twenty-some emerging leader nor a seasoned veteran of ministry. I’m a middle-aged mother of two preteen/teenagers who decided to say yes to a wild dream of seminary and ministry after years of unsuccessfully trying to contain God in a small square container. The box is torn open now, and duct tape is strewn about. The limitations I have always bound myself to have been blown away by saying “yes” to God’s calling in my life.

So, what kind of box are you putting the Almighty “calling and commissioning” God in? I guarantee you, God’s not in there. Our gracious, generous, loving God is in your moments of rest and unrest, in the mountaintops and the valleys, calling you. YES–YOU! Maybe your calling isn’t to seminary and ordination, but your calling is 100 % to be a conduit of love in a weary and restless world, outside of the boxes we try to put the creator of the universe in.