The Lord revealed the next steps Jeremiah was to take to enter into his new season to achieve his future. At first Jeremiah was not able to see his future clearly. His boldness and clarity didn’t come until God removed his fear, doubt, and excuses. We are always so eager to make excuses of why we are not qualified to accept the call of God on our life. We point out our sin, weaknesses, and lack of training, skill, and failures.

We are full of reasons why we can’t do something, or why we are not the right person for an assignment. We offer God excuses when He comes to send us forth in our calling. God was establishing Jeremiah as a prophet. Jeremiah could only focus on his past weaknesses because he couldn’t see his bright future.

Jeremiah 1:4–10 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." Then I said, "Alas, Lord God Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth." But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord. Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.” “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." NASU

God’s loving persistence with Jeremiah gave him skill and understanding to develop his prophetic eyes to see vision and his ears to hear the word of the Lord.

Jeremiah 1:11–12, The word of the Lord came to me saying, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "I see a rod of an almond tree." Then the Lord said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it." NASU

God continued to articulate Jeremiah's potential and refused to allow Jeremiah to focus on his excuses, fears, or failures.

God also speaks to the positives of what we are, and what we can become, rather than emphasizing the negatives. For example, God does not speak to our sickness and disease; He speaks to our health and healing. He does not verbalize to our poverty or lack; He addresses our wealth and abundance. He does not talk to our failure or mistakes; but He proclaims our triumphs and successes. He does not focus on the past; He speaks to the now and to our future.

Our yesterdays can not hold us back from reaching our tomorrows unless we allow them to. Our past does not dictate or mirror the future unless we refuse to embrace God’s directions and change. God speaks the language of hope to encourage each of us to succeed. We do not like to be left in the dark so God brings us into the light. He wants us to know the wonderful plans He has for the future as much as we want Him to reveal them to us.

Jeremiah was Trained to See

Jeremiah told God that his lack of maturity and eloquence of speech would prohibit him from speaking for God. Therefore, by touching Jeremiah's weak areas, God imparted a divine grace which overrode Jeremiah's weakness. God believes in us. He promises that if we will have faith in God and in His divine empowerment, God will provide what is needed for us to fulfill our future.

2 Peter 1:2–4, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” NKJV

We are not alone in life’s journey. God promises to go before us and defeat our enemies. He lives largely within us, and He daily walks beside us—constantly encouraging. Each new day is fresh and we receive fresh grace and mercy. Satan’s lies scream, “You are not loved, called, equipped, or anointed!” if we listen to, or agree with his lies we won’t believe that God’s grace can take the place of our greatest weakness.

Every night the Holy Spirit comes to hover over us with His loving embrace to overshadow us with dreams and visions so we will conceive and see our potential.

Mary was overshadowed by the presence of the Holy Spirit, and she conceived Jesus, the Savior of the world, and the Son of the living God. When Gabriel announced that she was to birth the Son of God, she said, "Be it unto me according to Thy word." Luke 1:38. God’s touch resolved any questions, or fear with which Mary was struggling. The Virgin Mary knew that her being pregnant outside of wedlock could end in her being stoned to death. In Mary’s moment of belief and faith God imparted a supernatural grace to empower her to envision the giver of eternal life and receive her amazing future.

The Holy Spirit guides and teaches us as we step into every new season. God’s promises are true. The word He speaks to us prepares us to see our future.

God fulfilled His promises to Jeremiah. And He will faithfully fulfill His promises to you. You are His beloved too! The word watch, shaqad, means "to be alert, i.e. sleepless; the awakening one; hence to be on the lookout (whether for good or ill) to hasten, remain awake, to keep watch of, watch for, and be wakeful over." The same word can be translated into almond-shaped, to make like (unto, after the fashion of almonds), ‘almond blossoms.’ Many people would agree our eyes are almond shaped.

Once the Lord had placed His words in Jeremiah's mouth, He inquired once more, Jeremiah, "What do you see?" This time Jeremiah did not answer with another defense, reason, or justification, for his lack or weakness, but Jeremiah responded properly as prophetic vision was given to him, “I see a branch or shoot of an almond tree the emblem of alertness and activity, blossoming in late winter.”

The almond tree is the first to bud forth, or awaken in a new season with blossom cups that are shaped like almonds. On my Nutrition, Plants and Flowers dream symbol cards, the almond also represents virginity; hope, watchfulness and fruitfulness, health, gifts, authority, happiness, and offering your best, Genesis 43:11. Diligence and hard work will result in increased production, harvest, and profits resulting in wealth, God’s choice, success, and financial gain. Numbers 17:8 God’s faithfulness awakening, Jeremiah 1:11–12.

When Jeremiah received God’s grace his eyes were opened to see from God’s perspective. God’s vision enabled Jeremiah to overcome his weakness and boldly step into his destiny and near future. When we receive God’s great grace in every season of transition in our lives our eyes will also be opened to see from God’s perspective concerning our destiny. The prophet Jeremiah was ‘awakened’ to see his new season and future. He received grace to fulfill his divine destiny call.

Each morning we awake from a new dream, it is a new day, a new beginning, a new awakening; we open our eyes to see by the dawns early light. God is pouring out fresh grace, enlightenment, and spiritual dreams and visions that will awaken us to new possibilities.

Heaven is drawing near to empower us to fulfill our destiny. The Lord sends His angels to watch over, guide, and protect each of us, to ensure His word comes to pass in our lives. God is a protector and a defender of the weak, so He continues to speak to our potential. God is the only one who knows the future! It is time to draw close to God, and then we will see our divine destiny and future.