Great Is Your Faithfulnessનમૂનો

Faithful to Call and Equip

A few years back, our church's network fellowship produced a video presentation through which many ministers from our state took the viewer to "their spot"--the spot where God had spoken clearly, calling him or her to vocational ministry, on the property of the campground where teenagers gathered each summer. For most featured, they recounted what God had said, right where they were at that moment, and how they felt moving forward. I, too, have experienced that call of God, which has guided my life's choices since the age of 14. When God taps you on the shoulder, it marks you in a way that few things can.

For many, "the call of God" exemplifies what was featured in the video: a call to vocational ministry--to preach, teach, lead, go to a foreign country where you don't speak their language and have to live in a hut. But today I want to refocus that mindset as God has a calling for every single human on this planet. As my friend Crystal often exhorts, "You were born on purpose, for a purpose, and you have a destiny to fulfill!" The question is, "Will you acknowledge the purpose, and live out the purpose?"

I am so very glad that God did not only include in Scripture the call-and-response encounters in which mankind jumped up and down with glee and immediately surrendered to His plan with total abandon. Rather God saw fit to detail the lives of individuals like you and me: people who loved God, wanted to be used, but felt completely and utterly incapable or inadequate to fulfill such a grand plan.

• Sarah laughed at God's promise and even tried to hijack God's plan to accommodate her preferred timing. (Genesis 18)
• Moses begged God to use someone else to lead His people out of slavery. (Exodus 3)
• Esther's fear of royal protocol nearly caused her to miss her grand moment in the saving of her people. (Esther 4-5)
• Jonah ran in the opposite direction, and even camped out in the belly of a great fish, to avoid the call to deliver God's message. (Jonah 1)
• Gideon asked for multiple confirmations, recognizing his generation had never experienced God's favor and was a member of the least likely tribe to lead. (Judges 6-7)
• Jeremiah shrank back from prophesying due to his young age. (Jermiah 1:6)
• Saul was the first anointed king of God's people. Yet they had to drag him from behind the baggage due to fear and insecurity. (1 Samuel 10:22)
• Peter knew his own propensity toward recklessness and impetuousness and doubted if Jesus could trust him. (Luke 5:8)
• Paul violently persecuted believers on the Lord Jesus before he was knocked off his beast to produce a surrendered Yes. (Acts 9)

These are only a few among countless others who felt unworthy, inadequate, or afraid. If any of these traits describe how you're feeling in the wake of something God is calling you to do, you're in the company of many who struggled. But once they found the courage to obey, they discovered that God's strength and power were actually showcased through their perceived weaknesses.

God is faithful to call, but He also equips for that call. Your Yes is all He is seeking today. The equipment is on its way.

Dig a Little Deeper

Whether you heard God speaking last week or a decade or two ago, or maybe you're waiting to hear from Him today, know that His call requires right living and a desire to please Him. Perfection is not required, and perhaps not even possible. But keep your heart tender to His voice and eager to obey His commands. There's simply no greater adrenaline rush than full surrender to God's plan for your life. Ask Him for clarity today and then determine to say Yes. You won't regret it.