Born for This “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” — Jeremiah 1:5 The Torah portion for this week is Matot, which means “branches,” from Numbers 30:2–32:42, and the Haftorah is from Jeremiah 1:1–2:3. Baby Scott was given up for adoption when he was just six weeks old. At age two, Scott developed an unusual disease that prevented him from growing properly. As a young child, Scott spent six years in and out of hospitals. Eventually he got a little better and began to grow, but he was always extremely small. While Scott dreamed of being a sports star in football, basketball, baseball, or anything really, his size put an end to those aspirations. With nowhere else to turn, Scott gave skating a try. With his slight stature, ease, and flexibility, Scott Hamilton went on to become one of the greatest figure skaters of all time. Later in life, Scott discovered that he had a brain tumor. Surgery proved that the tumor had been with him since birth – in fact it was the reason for his stunted growth. Recently, Scott reflected on his life and said, “the brain tumor that caused my growth to be stunted was the greatest gift I have ever received.” That once foreboding limitation was the key to Scott’s success. So many times in life we are discouraged by what seems to be our fate. Like Scott, we have dreams and aspirations that aren’t always doable. We make plans to be a famous football player, but God has another plan for our lives. Sometimes, we may be angry with our lot in life. It seems like God has gotten it all wrong. Why would God pick out such an unsuitable path for us to follow? These are the sentiments that the great prophet Jeremiah expressed in this week’s Haftorah which begins the book of Jeremiah. When God called Jeremiah to fulfill his destiny by warning the children of Israel that destruction was near, He knew that Jeremiah would protest (which he indeed did). So God started off with the following: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” In essence, God was saying, “I know you better than you know yourself! I knew you before you were born; I created you in order to fulfill a unique destiny.” Friends, the same is true for us, too. No matter how we may feel about our godly assignment right now, the truth is that we were born to fulfill it. God makes no mistakes. He gives us the job that our souls need most to fulfill and the one for which we are fully equipped to accomplish. Our response is to embrace our assignment and serve God with gladness. God has a plan for our lives and it is a good one – we just need to trust Him and follow Him faithfully. With prayers for shalom, peace, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein Founder and President
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 04:07:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015