All in Calling

What has God chosen us to do, and how does it relate to the promises He has in store for us? We can go to work every day and do something we are only mediocre at, and then go home and paint a masterpiece on a piece of canvas. Perhaps we work all weekend long planting flowers in our yard, and notice that they never look as good as our neighbor’s, but the maintenance we do to our house outshines every other home on our street. It is the same in faith, sometimes the pastor wants us to serve on the church board and we are miserable at it, but when we teach a class it is pure joy, and people line up to be in our class. Do we simply meet a need that we think serves us best, or has God chosen us for a task that serves His will?

Sometimes we get caught up in one of Satan’s most devious snares that comes disguised as spirituality, but in reality draws us away from following Jesus as we should. Have you ever been so concerned about how God, or Jesus, is treating someone else that it nearly becomes an obsession with you? Have you boldly asked Jesus why He is behaving a certain way, either positive, or negatively, towards someone?

Are your pastors arrogant men? Do they lift themselves up in their godliness, or tout their righteousness? Those who are filled with such characteristics might be earthly kings, great scholars, or mighty men, but they are not high priests because there are two traits that none have except a pastor. To be called by God to His service, and to reflect Christ.

Has God called you, and given you a job to do for Him? Is this job beyond your abilities, and have you been ignoring His voice because you feel inadequate? Perhaps you started to answer, but have let it go stagnate because you can’t see how to proceed... well in either case God is with you, but in order to overcome the difficulties and obstructions that you perceive are blocking you... you must lean on prayer, and listen to His voice. Then, as He brings success, you must give Him the glory.

Do you feel called to serve the Lord, but just can’t seem to satisfy yourself in the answer to His calling? Do you answer “Here am I!”, and yet doubt the significance of what you are giving towards the effort? Well forget the grand desires you may have, and concentrate on giving all of yourself to Him, not to bring Him glory in the earthly sense, but in every little thing He asks of you. Do His will as He would have you do it.

Do you pray, and when you pray, does God meet you there? When He does, people have a great deal to ask of Him and begin doing so immediately, but the most important moment in our prayers is not what we say to Him, but when God speaks to us. The most powerful moments in most biblical accounts begins with the Lord speaking, but do we hear Him when He speaks to us? Are we listening? How do we answer Him? Do we acknowledge Him at all, or just sit dumb in silence? Then, if we do hear, how do we respond? Do we say “Here am I Lord.”?

Do you win souls to Jesus Christ, and by doing so fill the nets of heaven for God Himself? What did it take for you to follow Jesus once you heard His voice calling you? Did you drop whatever you were doing and follow Him, or did you look away and think about it for a while? When Jesus calls us, His presence is so overpowering that we abandon our old life and begin our journey with Him at once, but at that moment... do we really know who He is?

Has God placed something on your heart, or called you to do a work for Him that you are not doing? Have you listened to his voice speaking within you and made excuses to avoid performing as He has asked? We make lots of excuses when God speaks, sometimes because what He asks sounds hard, sometimes because it requires sacrifice, and sometimes because we doubt our ability. Are you in the midst of this right now?

Do living waters flow from you? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit as Jesus had said, and become the source of a flood... not a trickle, but rivers of living Water? If you are able to contain the desire to spread the good news of the gospel, then you have not yet found the source of the waters that Jesus spoke of, and there is more for you to believe will come. These are the waters of life which will be offered by both the Spirit and the bride of Jesus Christ.

When the Lord gives us a specific calling, or mission, that He wants us to accomplish, how do we know when it is complete? Have you ever left spiritual business unfinished because you took your eyes off of 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 of a sick neighbor; when does stopping become a matter of God, as opposed to our own lack of desire to continue on? 

Have you ever received manna from heaven? Maybe you haven’t been the recipient of this heavenly food specifically, but has some form of spiritual or supernatural rescue or provision been provided for you? How about a call from God to be that answer to someone else’s need or prayer? When God uses us in this way we suddenly realize the immenseness of the blessing that comes from being in His service. 

Do you look back at your life of faith with regret? Do you look down and feel like a failure because you weren’t a Billy Graham, or made some great theological impact? This happens to pastors, missionaries, and church workers, quite often. How about those of us who are lay people, everyday Christians, and parishioners? Do you think that you have let Jesus down because you weren’t able to contribute a huge amount of money to the church, sit on the board, or head up a committee? Well stop right there!! 

Do you lay awake at night and plot the course you will take tomorrow? Do you make battle plans against the forces of darkness, or arrange your spiritual strategy for holiness? If so, then woe to you, because the seas we sail, and the battles we fight, are not ours. We are just sailors aboard the vessel of God, and soldiers in the army of the King. We sail for him and do battle in His war. When we triumph it is in Jesus Christ alone... follow His lead.