07/11/2022
My dear friend, and the Connection Minister at my church, Pastor Scott Hodgin, is moving to Ohio where he will teach Bible and Worship Ministry at a Christian Academy, and an English course at Cedarville University, which is a nearby Baptist university. He had been called into service as a pastor at my church to jump start its outreach into the community, and to fire up the men’s program. In less than two years he had done both, and now God is calling him to begin something new.
“who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,”
2 Timothy 1:9 ESV
I want to use this opportunity to talk about callings today… God calls us into His service, and He does so with a specific purpose in mind; then, when that purpose has been met, He doesn’t remove that calling from us, but adds another. Sometimes He calls us, and we hear it loud and clear, but then, in all the excitement, we miss hearing what He expects the end of that specific road to look like. Too often we insert our own expectation of what He must want us to accomplish for Him, and fail to see that what He wants the end goal to be might not be what we think it is.
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:14 ESV
We spend a great deal of time talking about hearing God’s call for our lives, but way too little about hearing what He expects of us, and missing the small still voice that says “Thank you good and faithful servant… stand down, and now do this…”
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14 ESV
There are moments of spiritual crisis that can often come over us when we have walked beyond the border of something we have been called to do. In this strange land, that still looks familiar, we can feel so much like foreigners. Although we are physically comfortable in the work we are doing, it is no longer in service to the Lord, but at our own whim and fancy. In this way it now leaves our heart and spirit feeling rather empty. When we miss God’s voice whispering to our spirit about His desire to lead us from where we are now, into a new calling, the place we are in now may still look like home, but it begins to feel more and more like a desert, and we are driven into it as a way of speeding our preparation for where God desires us to go next.
“The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.”
Mark 1:12-13 ESV
Pastor Scott answered the Lord’s voice when he came to my church, and now he has been given another calling. I prayed over him the day he told me of this new opportunity to serve the Lord, and I will continue to do so as he steps into the new role that God has prepared for him. I am sad to see him go, but I am also very aware of the fact that this is indeed a new calling that will serve the kingdom. In Ohio, he will not lose his call to minister, but will pick up an additional calling… to teach. Knowing that the Lord will use Scott mightily in this way, I see his leaving, not as an end, but as a new beginning, and it prompts me to take notice of what I am doing for God, and all that I have been called to do. It should remind each of us that, like Pastor Scott, we need to listen for God as He calls us into not just one, but possibly many, callings over the course of our lives. Are we called? Are we being called yet again?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for calling us into your service through opportunities such as the ministry, teaching, leading, witnessing, and so many other ways that you ask us to serve you. Thank you Lord for adding to what you give us as we walk this way with Jesus, and for taking our one calling then adding others to it as they join together to magnify our service to your kingdom. Help us to hear your voice as it calls to us, and whether we hear you call once, twice, or many times in the course of our life of faith, we pray that our ears will always be attentive, and expectant, as we listen, answer, and obey your will for us. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who calls us to serve you in wonderful ways. Praised be your name for every time we hear your voice calling out us, whether once or many times, and for guiding us as we work at fulfilling all that you ask of us. Merciful are you who calls our name, and sends us out to minister, teach, love, and do all of the other things that will help those in need, and lead them to a stronger walk with you. We hear your voice, and so often feel that we are unworthy, or unable to do what you are asking, but you insist, and give us what we need. Your grace blesses, and changes us; enabling our weaknesses to become strengths, and to do powerful works for you. Father, wash us clean in the blood of Christ, and set us on the road to serve your will and every call. Transform us through our faith in Jesus, and when the day comes that we are judged, count our callings as being completed, and well done. Find us righteous and pure, cast in His image, and worthy of eternity with you.
Rich Forbes