I heard the voice of the
Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" —Isaiah
6:8
{CHAMBERS} “When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the
most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many
things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and
others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the
One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us.
The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially
weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish
them. […] The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires
and temperament are of no consideration. […] Isaiah was so attuned to God,
because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God
penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And
we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can
hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.”
{ELGIN} When you think of
someone being called by God .. hearing God’s voice … do you think Isaiah,
Moses, Abraham, Paul? Do you ever think of yourself as being among that group? I would guess probably not. It would be like a duffer in golf comparing
themselves to Arnold Palmer. Not even in
the same class. Perhaps, but in the case
of God’s call, your thinking would be wrong.
Way wrong. Don’t confuse your
role in the mission with calling. God
gives us different things to do, some seem small compared to others, but God decides
that, not us. (Romans 8:30-31) “And those he predestined, he also called; those he
called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then,
shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against
us?” What do you say in response? “Oh, I
could never be like _________” We are all
being conformed into the image of Jesus.
We are called into new life. We
have a common mission but diverse roles in that mission.
Our problem is making that
Truth important in our every-day lives.
Do you live each moment with an awareness that you are called by
God? Not for the sake of pride but are
you living in awe of what God has done in you by grace through faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9) God has given you a
place of ministry in the place where you are right now. The question is, will you be found faithful
or will you focus on living life on this planet .. doing the best you can to
get along with your new nature running in the background. My point, as Christians, we have been called to
so much more than that. And you don’t
have to travel to a foreign land to experience it. (Ephesians
2:10) “For we [YOU] are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us [YOU] to do.” We all must accept that truth and live in it
by faith, just like Isaiah, Moses, Abraham, and Paul.
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