Discovering Destiny (Part 5) – Known Before The Womb

https://youtu.be/pMrvktBJ_UU?si=kxeJHTWVxVDixWjL

Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future.

Last week in our “Discovering Destiny” series, we learned that you discover your destiny, that God planned you before time began, that He made a masterpiece when He made you, and that there is a book in heaven with your name on it. This week, we turn to the people in that book, the witnesses God planned before birth, and we begin with a young man named Jeremiah, who shows us that God knew us before the womb.

Key scriptures for this year:

2 Peter 3:18 GNT“But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever.”

Luke 10:20 Mirror“It’s time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven’s perspective.”

1 John 3:10 Mirror“There is a very visible and vast difference between living one’s life from your God identity or from a fallen man’s mindset.”

Proverbs 25:2 NKJV“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Scripture we will study today:

Jeremiah 1:5 ERV“Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I chose you for a special work. I chose you to be a prophet to the nations.”

Supporting scriptures:

Jeremiah 1:6-8 ERV“Then I said, ‘But Lord God, I don’t know how to speak. I am only a boy.’ But the Lord said to me, ‘Don’t say, “I am only a boy.” You must go everywhere I send you and say everything I tell you to say. Don’t be afraid of anyone, because I am with you and I will protect you.’ This message is from the Lord.”

Isaiah 49:1 NLT“The Lord called me before my birth; from within the womb he called me by name.”

Romans 8:29 ERV“God knew them before he made the world. And he decided that they would be like his Son, so that Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters.”

Galatians 1:15 TPT“But then God, who had chosen me from my birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to unveil his Son in me so that I would proclaim the good news of him to the non-Jewish people.”

Setting the Stage:

We begin a new week of Discovering Destiny with a young man who felt completely unqualified for what God called him to do. When God called Jeremiah, He reached all the way back before the womb. He told him, “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I chose you for a special work.” Before Jeremiah was formed, he was known. Before he was born, he was chosen. Before he could do anything right or wrong, he was appointed.

Jeremiah’s first response is one many of us have given God. He said, “I am only a youth.” In other words, “You have the wrong person.” But notice that God never argued with Jeremiah’s resume. He simply pointed back to His plan. This is where the whole series turns personal, because the same God who knew Jeremiah before the womb knew you. Let me show you what that means.

So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.

1. Before The Womb, God Knew You.

The first thing God says to Jeremiah is, “I knew you.” Not “I will get to know you,” but “I knew you,” before he was ever formed. That word “knew” is intimate. It is not God scanning a crowd and recognizing a face. It is God knowing you completely, deeply, and by name, before you ever had a body. Most people spend their whole lives trying to be known. There are countless people posting on social media today trying to be known. But you had God’s had it before you existed.

How this applies to you:

— Jeremiah 1:5 ERV says, “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I knew you.” God did not meet you at your birth. He knew you before birth. And honestly, it’s hard for us as humans to wrap our minds around this reality. 

— You do not have to perform to be known; you were known before you existed.

— Romans 8:29 ERV says God “God knew them before he made the world. And he decided that they would be like his Son, so that Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters.” Your relationship with God did not begin the day you found Him. It began the day He knew you, and that was before the world existed.

— Let this sink in for a moment: The God of the universe knew you before your own mother did.

— This means several things to us today:

a) In a world that is fighting for people’s attention, you already have the attention of the One who matters the most.

b) You can stop performing for approval, because you were fully known long before you had anything to show for it.

c) You will never have to introduce yourself to God; He knew you before you knew yourself.

— Understanding all of this, you can walk into every day with the comfort that God knows you. It’s one thing for you to say you know God, but it’s something completely different to say that God knows you. 

2. Before The Womb, God Chose You And Appointed You.

Read the rest of Jeremiah 1:5. God not only knows Jeremiah. He chose him and appointed him as a prophet, and He did it all before Jeremiah was born. Watch what that does to the way you see your purpose.

How this applies to you:

— Jeremiah 1:5 ERV says, “Before you were born, I chose you for a special work.” You were not only known; you were chosen, and you were chosen for something specific.

— Knowing shows intimacy, choosing shows intentionality, and appointing makes it all official. The word appointing here is also translated as ordained, which means that God is putting a seal of approval on your assignment. 

— Isaiah 49:1 NLT says, “The Lord called me before my birth; from within the womb he called me by name.” Jeremiah was not the only one called from the womb. This is simply how God works. The Apostle Paul said the same thing. 

— Your assignment had your name on it before you had a name.

— God did not hand you a generic life. He chose you for “a special work,” a specific assignment that no one else was designed to carry. You are not interchangeable.

— Your purpose is not an afterthought. It was God’s forethought. When you finally open up your heart to this reality, it changes everything. You live your life with a sense of purpose that enables you to push through all sorts of opposition and challenges. 

— This is why comparison is a waste of your time. God appointed Jeremiah to be a prophet, not a priest and not a king. He had a specific lane for a specific man, and He has one with your name on it that only you can fill.

3. Your Objection Does Not Cancel Your Assignment.

Watch how Jeremiah responds. The moment God reveals the calling, Jeremiah objects: “I am only a youth.” He looked at himself and basically told God that He had the wrong person. Look closely at how God answers, because His answer is the key to yours.

How this applies to you:

— Jeremiah 1:6 ERV records his objection: “I don’t know how to speak. I am only a boy.” A lot of us have prayed that same prayer, looking at our resume and telling God He picked the wrong person.

— God never argued with Jeremiah’s resume, and He will not argue with yours.

— Jeremiah 1:7-8 ERV says, “Don’t say, ‘I am only a boy.’… I am with you and I will protect you.” God addressed Jeremiah’s concern by shifting the focus away from Jeremiah. God did not boost Jeremiah’s confidence in himself. He pointed him to His presence. The answer to your inadequacy is His “I am with you.”

— And whether you are confident about your assignment or not, your expressions of doubt or fear or unbelief do not change the fact that God has already chosen you. Your assignment was set before you ever took one breath. 

— Every objection you raise about your calling is really an objection about you, and God already factored you in. He knew your weaknesses before He chose you. He was not surprised by your inadequacy; He planned around it. Do you get what I’m saying here? Every objection is basically a human saying, “Hey, I’m not good enough.” God responds by saying, “I knew you were not going to be good enough, and I called you anyway because my assignment is not based on your goodness, but on my grace.” 

— Stop disqualifying yourself with excuses that God already overruled. The assignment was never going to run on your strength, but on His presence and His grace.

— God does not need you to be qualified, but He needs you to be open and available.

4. Your Past Cannot Cancel What God Settled Before The Womb.

Here is the truth I keep coming back to, and today I want to drive it all the way home. I keep reiterating this one because it is the truth performance-based religion fights the hardest, and because most believers still secretly fear that their failures can cancel their calling. So hear me one more time, through the life of a man who tried to talk God out of it. Jeremiah raised his objection, but human objections in time could not cancel out God’s purpose, which was settled in eternity.

How this applies to you:

— If God knew you before the womb, then nothing since the womb can disqualify you. Your calling was settled before you could earn it, so it cannot be lost by anything you have done since.

— You cannot disqualify yourself from something you never qualified for.

— Galatians 1:15 TPT says God “had chosen me from my birth and called me by his grace.” Paul was a persecutor, and he still could not undo a calling God set before his birth. The same grace covers you.

— Your worst moment cannot cancel what God settled before time began.

— In the days ahead, in this series, I will discuss several witnesses. Moses killed a man. David committed adultery. Rahab sold her body. Paul hunted Christians down. Every one of them was known and chosen before birth, and not one of them could undo what God predetermined.

— If their worst could not disqualify them, then your worst cannot disqualify you.

— So walk into this new week settled. You were known before the womb, chosen for a special work, appointed for an assignment, and nothing you have done can erase it. 

— You now get to spend the rest of your life discovering what God wrote, and walking it out by faith.

That’s enough for today.

Declaration of Faith:

Father, I thank You that You knew me before You formed me!

I was fully known before I ever drew a breath!

You chose me for a special work before I was born!

My assignment had my name on it before I had a name!

My objection cannot cancel Your assignment!

You do not need me to be qualified; You need me to be available!

The answer to my weakness is Your presence, not my ability!

Nothing I have done since the womb can disqualify what You settled before it!

My worst moment cannot cancel what You predetermined before time began!

This is THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!

I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!