I wonder if Jeremiah’s excuse is more than just his age. Is “I am only a boy” a political realization about his power and his voice?
Every young person probably feels the tension of needing experience to get experience, but today I'm reading something different from Jeremiah. "I am only a boy" may mean "I do not matter." I don't sit in the room where it happens. I don't have the credentials to speak to kings, priests, or systems. Jeremiah knows what the world has already decided about him: Your voice doesn't matter.
But God calls him anyway. The Lord does not deny Jeremiah’s youth or try to argue him into confidence. Instead, God instructs Jeremiah to shake off what he's been told. “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy.’” Not because it's not true, but because that won't matter. Our identity in Christ is not merely something we discover within ourselves. It surely isn't something we earn through approval. Our identity is spoken over us by God. What the world says is “only,” God renames as beloved.
Sent. God commissions what culture says is powerless. Jeremiah is not promoted into relevance. His life is redefined. The boy does not grow up to be a prophet. The prophet is brought into being by the word of the Lord. Let's lean on that for a moment. Most of us carry our own version of “only.” Only inexperienced. Only grieving. Only tired. Only recovering. Only unsure. Only one voice. These may be true statements, but they can also be assigned limitations. And God does not shame us for recognizing them. But God refuses to let them be our identity. And we shouldn't let them be our excuse. God’s call does not ignore our smallness. So, the question is not whether we are enough. It is whether we will keep saying “only” after God has already said, “I am sending you.” Stay blessed...john | 
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