First of all let me say thank you to everyone that responded! It was great seeing what everyone had to say.
Here are my thoughts:
I do not believe that a call from God always comes with excitement. Actually I believe most of the time it is received with doubt. People doubting their ability to do said task! Consider Moses in Exodus 3: 7-14.
I think people today are seeking the highs when expecting and answering a call from God! They want to be all excited about their ministry/mission. Consider these people who had a call from God, how did they respond?
Sampson (He was a Nazarene, but did not go merrily.)
Job (Do you think Job said UHHH...UHHH... Pick me to suffer like he did?)
Jonah (well we all know what he did in response!)
Jeremiah (who wants to always be the bearer of bad news?)
Isaiah (How would you feel if no one listened, when you told them of judgement?)
Hosea (now how would you feel if God told you to marry a woman of ill repute?)
David (now this is kind of reversed. David wanted to build the temple, but God said NO. How do you think he felt?)
The Apostles:
Peter
Paul (Look at how he suffered for Christ!) Looked at what God said about him in Acts 9:16
The list goes on and on!
I'm not saying that excitement and fulfillment is not there. I believe blessings come when we answer the call. Even with our doubts. After all it is I AM that is sending us!
What is the one thing necessary to accept the call? I believe it is obedience!
If we are obedient to God's call, there will be times of excitement and fulfillment! Perseverance is necessary! I like what e-mom said about "inner confirmation", "peace", "rooted steadfastness", and "assurance".
I am troubled by those who may not answer the call because they don't have that Awe feeling!
I have to admit there are times (alot of times) where I wish I was not doing at least parts of what I am doing now! The sense of frustration and lack of ability to get things done, or the sense of feeling that I am not setting forth the vision for Children's Ministries in a way that people understand and get behind is overwhelming! The frustrating this for me is discerning whether God has lifted His call or whether he just needs me to trust more! But one thing I have learned along this road is just because he calls you does not mean its going to be a "rose garden". Well maybe it with be a "rose garden" but with lots of thorns!
Well that's it. I don't know if this make sense or not, but it was on my mind and I needed to get it out! Thanks for your responses. I hope it has maybe gotten you thinking as well. Maybe even digging into scripture more.
8 comments:
I thought this was really interesting Kim. I enjoyed reading the responses from everyone else and what you listed today too. It did make me think!
Blessings to you my friend! Love you!!
Although I have not read the original post, your post makes sense by itself :) ...
You are right - we sometimes doubt (and we find ourselves in great company as you pointed out). What God has taught me over the years though is trusting Him. He will confirm in one way or another if He called you into a certain ministry...You said obedience is the key - amen to that. Even if we have to step out of our comfort zone.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on obedience today.
Be blessed today and always...
Great post, Kim! And don't forget about Moses: "Who, m-m-m-me?!"
I couldn't resist adding another comment, since I am the only one who says we do have excitement and anticipation. Jesus dwells within us. He is the one that does the works. He is TOTALLY about doing the will of the Father. I guess I imagine He has great excitement and anticipation. The REAL us, meaning our Spirit, is ALL about what the Father wants to do. What we are possibly talking about is the FLESH us whose feelings don't line up. I will hope that as we abide in Him that our response would align with the will of the Father and be VERY EXCITED. My prayer is that our flesh would start to respond as the Spirit already has. . .
Sorry, I missed your post with the question. You had a great response. I enjoyed that. It reminded me of how many times I have heart preachers tell the story of when God was calling them to preach and they would fight it. When they accepted the call peace came. Of course I know it is a hard life but HE is with them all the way! I just wanted to throw that in! Hope I didn't wait to late. Thanks Kim for listening!
Great post!
So often we are expecting the feelings when obedience gives God so much more pleasure.
He requires obedience over sacrifice!
Wow! I need to start coming to your blog more often! I came to read Thursday's, because you said you talked about us in it (which I LOVED--thank you). Then I scrolled down and read this one. . . . You are so "spot on" with this. I haven't read the "question" from the day before, but your thoughts on God's "call" are great. I really struggled--a lot--with the whole call thing when we were contemplating full-time Christian service with Transport For Christ. Dwayne clearly felt called, and I, well, didn't. I think because we've had this weird kind of image as we grew up that God's calling would be almost some type of audible or mystical kind of thing. I struggled with Dwayne feeling "it" and me not--so clearly it wasn't right for us (in my mind anyway). Wrong. Through some godly counsel, a LOT of prayer, and a definite step of faith, I (we) went for it. God truly blesses when we just obey. And for me, it was also a case of trusting my husband as well and following under his leadership. I am so thankful for the example of all those reluctant, flawed people in the Bible. It shows how God can use ANYBODY. And in fact, it allows him to get ALL the glory, because there's no way anyone like me or with my mistakes can feel anything but humbled by the fact that he still wants to use us for so much.
Well, this comment has turned into a long post on its own (sorry!), but I just wanted to reiterate that following a call definitely does not need to come with that AWE feeling--in fact, probably seldom does. When you get the AWE feeling is when you see what God can do in your life and in others when you actually step out on faith and do it. :)
I love you, Kim--God has done so much in us both, don't ya think? :)
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