When someone goes to buy a car, a scooty, or any kind of vehicle, they usually take it for a test drive first. They check the features. They already know roughly what to expect. But the moment they actually receive their own vehicle, they inspect it all over again — more carefully this time. They imagine what they’ll do with it. They look closely for every scratch on the body. Why do they do that, when they already knew what to expect? Because now it belongs to them.
In the same way, God knows everyone. In fact, He knew us before we were even born. But when we dedicate ourselves to Him, His main plan — His agenda for us — begins to unfold. He already sees us doing His work. God knew Paul even before Paul started persecuting His people. But while Paul was fasting, sitting in the dark, praying, God appeared to Ananias and said: go and pray for him, for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name (Acts 9:15–16). That was the plan for Paul. And that’s how God’s appointment starts to unfold.
Today, we need to surrender ourselves before God so that we can know what He has planned for us. In an interview, the first thing they ask for is your introduction — your strengths, your weaknesses. God already knows ours. He already knows our weaknesses. And still, He chooses us and hands us the appointment.
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
Jeremiah was told that God knew him before he was formed in the womb, and that he was set apart even before birth. God’s chosen ones are set apart. Setting yourself apart — separating yourself from the ways of the world — is part of the deal. Abraham was told to leave his father’s house because he was set apart (Genesis 12:1, NIV). And being set apart wasn’t the only thing for Jeremiah either — he was appointed as a prophet.
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah 1:6-10
A small child, appointed as a prophet. That’s the thing about God’s appointments: the qualifications look a little different from what we’d expect. If God says you are appointed, no one gets to question it. Even when Jeremiah protested that he was only a child, God corrected him — don’t say that, because I have touched you (Jeremiah 1:6–9). God’s appointment comes with the touch of God.
Moses tried to refuse the call to go to Egypt because he wasn’t a skilled speaker. God’s answer wasn’t “find someone else” — it was “I will teach you what to say” (Exodus 4:10–12). God’s appointment means God will teach you.
But more than that, God’s appointment often means going to places we’re afraid of. Jeremiah — still a child — was sent to speak against kings and kingdoms and nations. He wasn’t sent to sightsee; he was sent to uproot and tear down, to speak hard words against them (Jeremiah 1:10). So God’s appointment can mean walking into places we’re deeply uncomfortable in — places that might even cost us our lives.
Moses was afraid to go back to Egypt. He had fled from there once; why would he want to return? But God said go anyway. We can get comfortable in the little nest God builds for us — the way a bird builds a nest to shelter its young. But after a while, when the chick has outgrown that nest, the nest starts to break apart, so the baby learns to fly.
In the same way, God sometimes dismantles the very nest He built for us—our place of comfort and security. It leaves us wondering why the God who opened that door is now closing it. The change can feel painful and difficult to bear. But the truth is, a nest was never meant to be a permanent home. At some point, we have to learn to fly. We must stretch the wings God has given us and step into the purpose He prepared for us.
The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” Judges 6:14
Gideon was appointed to defeat the Midianites. To others, God might have promised strength for the task. But to Gideon, God simply said, “Go in the strength you have” (Judges 6:14) — because a certain strength in him was already there, just hidden. He had the strength to thresh wheat in secret, hidden from his enemies, when others were too afraid to even try. And yet on the surface, all we see is a fearful Gideon — afraid to tear down his father’s idol except at night, asking God for sign after sign, sneaking into the enemy camp just to overhear a dream because he was that afraid.
But God saw a strength in him that others didn’t. And that strength was enough to defeat the Midianites — an army the Israelites described as being as numerous as the sand on the seashore, with camels and tents beyond counting. But God said Gideon would defeat them essentially as one man.
Now think about the dream Gideon overheard — a loaf of barley bread tumbling into the camp and flattening a tent (Judges 7:13). Your “rolling” in life might just be a threat to enemy camps. You might feel like you’re just rolling through life, tumbling, looking for some rest, longing for a stable place to stand. But while others just see you rolling, the enemy sees something else entirely — enemy camps being crushed under that very rolling. God is shaking you up so that certain enemies get trampled underneath your motion — enemies you’ll never have to face again.
Moses, you said you weren’t fluent in speech — then why is Pharaoh calling for you, ten times over? Why is Pharaoh, of all people, asking you to pray for him and for Israel? Because he knows that when Moses prays, things happen. And know this — that enemy will eventually bow down for good. The Pharaoh you see today, you will never see again — as long as you stay firm in your appointment.
Every one of these people had one thing in common: they were all afraid to step into their appointment. And they all received the same promise from God in return — “Go, for I am with you” (Exodus 3:12). God is with us once He has set our appointment in motion.
He isn’t a manager who assigns work and stands back only to supervise and point out our faults. He’s a God who stays with us the whole way. When Moses asked what he should say when people ask who sent him, God answered, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). That means when you’re standing in front of the Red Sea, He is the wind that parts it. When the enemy is pursuing you, He is the pillar of fire. When you need shade in a scorching desert, He is the cloud. Whatever you need most, He becomes that for you — friend, parent, teacher, pastor — because He is exactly what He is.
Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. 1 Samuel 15:1
But this appointment only becomes lasting if we stay faithful. Look at Samuel. In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel says it plainly — because God appointed him to anoint Saul, Saul needed to listen to him. Samuel carried that responsibility; God had chosen him to anoint the first king of Israel. So when Saul failed, it hurt Samuel deeply — so deeply that God had to step in and ask him how long he would go on grieving over Saul (1 Samuel 16:1).
Samuel may have wondered if it was somehow his fault — if he could have taught Saul better, guided him better, prayed more for him. That weight of responsibility, the sense that he was the one God had chosen to anoint the king, must have pressed on him. But God’s answer was: don’t call it your failure, don’t call your ministry a failure — get up, take your oil, because there’s another appointment waiting. If you sit and cry over what’s already lost, you’re carrying a responsibility God never asked you to carry alone. Faithfulness to God means getting back up for the next appointment.
Moses, too, was hesitant to lead this people. He had seen God’s glory. He knew about the book of life, the record of those who would belong to God — and still he asked God to blot out his own name rather than let the people be destroyed for what they’d done (Exodus 32:32). Why would he offer that? Because he said, in essence, “I am faithful. God chose me to lead this people. I am responsible for them.”
God honors that sense of responsibility. He made sure none of Samuel’s words fell to the ground unfulfilled (1 Samuel 3:19). And when Miriam spoke against her brother Moses, God was quick to defend him — reminding her that Moses was His servant, the one He spoke to face to face (Numbers 12:6–8). Moses was His.
Can we be faithful to God’s appointment? Yes — even though it’s hard to accept when the appointment comes. Even when He calls us out of our comfortable nests, even when we have to face our biggest fears. The answer, every time, is the same: have faith that He is with us. All He asks is that we surrender ourselves into His mighty arms, so that we may be lifted up in His appointed time. And that kind of lifting is reserved for those who have surrendered — for those who are held in the QUIVER OF GOD.
