11/24/2025
When the Lord gives us a specific calling or mission that He wants us to accomplish, how do we know when it, or our part in it, is complete? Have you ever left spiritual business unfinished because you took your eyes off the Lord? Whether it is praying for someone each day, being a loving spouse, serving in a far-off land, or simply mowing the yard for a sick neighbor; when does stopping what we were once called to do become a matter of God’s will, as opposed to our own reluctance, fear, or lack of desire to continue on?
“To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.”
Psalms 123:1-2 ESV
I talk to pastors all the time, and it is always interesting to me how they felt the call of God when they joined the ministry. I have also talked to those who chose the ministry as a career without first hearing God calling them. The former, for the most part, remain in God’s service while those who chose serving as a Pastor of their own accord often go into other things, or struggle mightily to accomplish what they once believed to be serving God. Just like a master has various tasks for his servants, so God has various callings and desires for His children.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
Hebrews 12:1 ESV
One such failed Pastor had thought that he was to be a man of the cloth, not because he had been called, but because he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. He struggled for a few years and then left the ministry entirely. It was a time of great spiritual upheaval within him, and he felt as though he had abandoned God. In fact, he hadn’t, because he never actually gave up his faith, only a mistaken calling that he had never received in the first place. Later, God did call him, but it wouldn’t be a calling of his own choosing, and although it wasn’t something he would have chosen for himself it would change his life, and save the souls of many others.
When God calls us it changes our lives. We suffer and endure its pursuit, and the only way we can possibly complete it is to keep our eyes firmly fixed upon Him and Jesus. Our calling isn’t really the question, God will take care of that, the real challenge is our ability to stay the course of faith and do what He has called us to accomplish! We must endure what we have been asked to do, even as Jesus did… by leaning on the strength of our Heavenly Father.
“looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2 ESV
I met a Pastor once who was called to reach out to lost souls in the Middle East. Our meeting was profound, and an incredible experience. I had words of encouragement for this man that pertained to his calling, but as we spoke I also received an unexpected calling for myself... the Holy Spirit told me to pray for him. I am not talking about a single prayer (which did occur as we spoke), but to pray for him every day, and not just for a week, a month, or a year, but for the rest of my life. Since that day the Lord has asked me to pray likewise for three other pastors.
There aren’t many calls that are meant to last a lifetime. Calls to the ministry are, and my call to pray for these pastors was, but most are single occurrences, or meant to last for a period of time. Sometimes, our calling is even modified in some way as we go about carry it out… like it was when Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac and then provided a substitute sacrifice at the last minute.
“He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.””
Genesis 22:2 ESV
Yet at the last minute Gode speaks again…
“He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.”
Genesis 2:12-13 ESV
Believers are called to the pastoral vocation, and then, as a result of that calling, they are called to serve in a specific church or ministry. Another thing that interests me is how God calls a reverend to a specific church, and then later calls him out. In almost every calling to serve somewhere there is very little doubt, it is like God has pushed His finger into the soft ground and dropped a seed into the depression; but when a Pastor is called out it is like ripping the roots of a full grown plant from the ground... it takes a great deal of prayer, struggle, and effort to understand this. The struggle isn’t on God’s part, but in the eyes and life of the Pastor and those he serves. He asks such questions as “Is this truly your will Father, or is this my own desire for change?” And quite often they ask, “how will my church be able to carry on without me?” The struggle often includes a feeling of abandoning God’s call prematurely, and invariably a feeling that the success or failure of that church or mission is dependent on them and is not firmly in the hands of God, as it is. Being called for a lifetime involves divine faith, and our lives becoming intertwined with the day-to-day callings to the point that one finds it hard to separate the two.
Earlier I gave the example of praying for a man for the rest of my life. Obeying God in such a calling is not something to be taken lightly, and it involves a great deal of struggle to ensure that our prayers are not just words, but a true expression of intercession. It is waking up in the middle of the night, or having our day interrupted with the sudden need to pray... right now! These prayers are occasionally for provision, sometimes for protection, or for some other dire reasons, but the call is loud and need is urgent. I have found myself worrying about what would happen to a Pastor if I became too ill to pray for him or if I was in an accident that left me in a coma. The answer is always the same... I am doing this for the Lord, and if he pulls me out of it, even for a day, he will place someone else in my place. You see, the task is never about us... it is about God’s will being done. We are just the best tool for the job at the time... just as the Pastor for whom I pray is the perfect person for the call they have received.
So, how will we know when we are being called out? We will know it when the Holy Spirit speaks to us and by looking up... by asking God if He is calling us away. God chose Elijah, and then he called him away, but he placed Elisha in the void that was left behind. God does this with us as well... we are never the purpose of God’s will... just His means of implementing it… but He loves us mightily all the same.
“And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”
2 Kings 2:11 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for calling me in various ways because I know that in them I glorify and honor you by obediently doing your will. I thank you for the pastors you place in my path, and I thank you for all your children who hear a calling through your Word and say “hear am I.” I know Father that one day you will call me out, you will call me home, and I know that in so doing your calling will be passed on to another. For this time, and my call, I pray that you give me strength to do your bidding and serve your will well. Help me Lord to separate the work I do for you from myself... never let me confuse what I do at your beckoning with being my own work. If ever I do Father, then call me away from it swiftly because I will have become a broken tool in your hand. You are great beyond all measure, and the strength and other gifts you give that allow us to serve you are never our own. Send us to do as you will and call us back when your will has been served. You are to be glorified, and in all our efforts you are the focus... praise be to you in all things, and for all time. In this we praise you and glorify you always.
“Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”
Amen
Rich Forbes