All tagged calling
In the church today many feel that there is but one calling and that is to become a pastor, or in another form, a missionary. Today let's contemplate that thought process and ask ourselves if we have received a calling, and determine what it truly is.
There are many pastors who read my thoughts each morning, and today's message is a word for you. I know that many of you are mighty in prayer and that God blesses you in this effort. I also know that you pray in all matters of the church regarding its edification and advancement, but this is a word of encouragement for those who are slow to enter their prayer closets, or find prayer time to be a struggle. Paul was sitting in prison when he wrote to the Ephesians, but in chapter three he went on to describe his calling to them. It is the same calling that ministers of the gospel receive today...
We can hear a pastor preach a sermon and it thrills our hearts, but we can hear the very same message delivered by another minister and it falls flat within us; why is that so? Haven’t we all experienced such a spiritual phenomenon? When we attempt to understand why this happens, what do we blame the rise and fall of that particular message to be? Was it the condition our own faith in that particular moment, or was it the Holy Spirit moving, or not moving, over the Pastor as he spoke?
Today's message is one of those intangible truths... the calling... the anointing that consecrates a man and his mission. How many earnest men have we known that lacked being anointed? Seriousness and purpose in our human lives does not insure that we are doing God's will. An anointing is that spark which reveals the fire of God; it is the flame in the bush that doesn't consume it. The anointing is the finger of God that writes upon the fleshiness of our hearts those things that He would have us do and say. It is the divine aspect of our lives.
When the Lord gives us a specific calling, or mission that He wants us to accomplish, how do we know it, and 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 God call us, and when does removing us from that call become His desire? Do we hear God calling us to something different or is what we are feeling the result of our own lack of determination, or dedication?
Are we praying for God to call us to perform some great task for His kingdom? Do we have a desire to do wonderful things for our Holy Father? Sometimes we take it upon ourselves to determine what that task might be. Brothers and Sisters, let’s stop trying to determine for ourselves how God can best use us, and pray instead that He shows us what He already has prepared for us to do, and that is to spread the gospel.
Are we running the race that God has laid out before us, or are we like the horse that never left the gate when the gun sounded? Is the call of the Lord fading into the distance, or are we following His call into an exciting adventure? These are the questions to ponder today.
We are all moved to work diligently for the kingdom when we are in the middle of an active calling, but how do we spend our time after God has called us out, after a calling is complete, and we are praying for God to reinsert us into his service? Is this simply a time of rest, do we give up and put our faith on the shelf, or maybe we find ourselves unsettled, despondent, or impatient as we cry and ask for a new assignment?
God calls us suddenly, and usually without announcement, are we ready at a moment's notice, or must we make preparations before answering His call? Will we instantly reply "Here I am!" When He calls? I find it interesting that most of the great prophets and leaders of the Bible answered instantly when God called them. There is no hesitation and no consideration as to why they were being called.
Are we being busy for Jesus, so busy we never stop to hear what He is really calling us to do? I worry about this often. I fill my life with the things that I know are those which Jesus did, or has told us in scripture to do, but are these things what He is asking of me right now? Today? Every day is new, and the Lord's mercies and compassions are new as well. So how is it that we feel inclined to latch onto a single thing that the Lord has told us to do and revisit it every day?
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.
Jesus got into the boat with Simon Peter and told him to pull away from the shore a short distance, then he taught the crowd that had gathered on the shore about the Word of God, but when He had finished teaching this lesson He told Simon to pull into the deep water, and there He not only taught Simon a greater lesson about faith, by miraculously filling two boats with fish, but convinced these men to follow Him. The question we need to ask ourselves this morning is this… are we standing on the shore listening to Jesus teach us about what we are already familiar with, or are we prepared to pull away into deeper water and learn a lesson of faith that will not only amaze us, but frighten us as well?
Are we piddlers? It’s one thing to be this way in our everyday lives, but quite something else to be known as a piddler when it comes to our faithfulness to God, and belief in Jesus Christ. A piddler is a person who wastes their time in trivial pursuits, while avoiding the more important things. They miss the mark by wasting their time on piddley pursuits while ignoring what really needs to be done. Is this how we are known to the saints in our church when it comes to religion, or to God regarding our faith? Has He called us to do certain things for Him, but we busy ourselves with unrelated pursuits and never seem to get around to obeying Him… to doing His will?
The apostle Paul worked tirelessly to teach and spread the good news of Jesus Christ, and many of us today owe our salvation, and eternal lives, to those seeds he planted, but even Paul would have grown tired in this effort had he not been infused with the energy of Jesus. The most gratifying tasks in our lives can grow wearisome over time, or by sheer exhaustion as our strength is sapped by the heavy lifting, or aging. Are we as energetic in our faith today as we once were? Do we feel weary and depleted, as day after day we go out into the world to spread the gospel message? Well we should look to the Lord as we struggle to walk on… asking for His energy to powerfully work in us, and the wisdom needed to make our efforts more efficient.
There are times in our lives of faith that we find ourselves sad. We feel like our spirits have faded and that our prayers are falling rather than rising from our lips. We continue on in our belief, but the joy in us has been diminished in some way. When this occurs we have lost sight of the fact that God is there with us, and that Jesus is abiding in us… we are saddened, perhaps disappointed, or mourning, even though we are standing in the very presence of God. Oh how incredulous we are, even while we are walking towards Emmaus with Jesus. In this glorious moment we are not seeing, or realizing, that He is speaking to us. This occurred on the road to Emmaus, and it happens to us today.