Hello? God's Calling...

Growing up in church, I’d often hear it said how you should definitely know the work that God requires of you. It seemed to be a prerequisite to doing anything in the church. That would be so distressing for me because I often felt that I didn’t know my “purpose”. I wasn’t a musician, a singer, a minster, or anything else that may have had a title attached. I just was. It was troubling because I often felt that I was falling short in this regard. It made me feel likewise in other areas of my life. There never seemed to be any guidance on finding an answer to the what-am-I-supposed-to-do? question. 

One day, I found myself reading through the book of Exodus. In particular, I was reading about the different responsibilities associated with preparing to transport the Ark of the Covenant. As I read through this, I remember marveling over the detail. It’s not like you find a ton of information about the Levites that were responsible for folding the linen or carrying the poles. Yet, these roles were significant enough at that time to be noted.

So, I began to think a little more about callings. So much emphasis is placed on the front facing. Did it count if no one saw you doing it? It turns out, yes. It does. It matters who we do those things for. Take, for example, the parable of the wedding feast. Imagine being invited to the event of a lifetime and turning it down because you are too busy with your own purpose or calling?

...you are receiving a very personal invitation from the host himself...

To be clear, you are receiving a very personal invitation from the host himself. In this case, Jesus. If anything in the world should trigger your FOMO, it should be this. Yet, many people are so focused on the “things” that they are doing, that they begin to neglect actually spending time with God. It impacts our relationship with him negatively. That’s why our choice is so imperative. Regardless of what we do, what is the intent? Is God getting the glory out of it? 

I loved watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory growing up for so many reasons. I was pulled in by the idea of a golden ticket. I came to understand some of the same concepts in my spiritual walk. It didn’t matter that each of those kids had a golden ticket (or how they got it!). It wasn’t a guarantee of a grand prize, was it? Nope. What mattered was their choice. The decisions they made had a major impact on their journey. That’s no different from us with our faith. We can talk about callings and purpose all day long. At the end of the day, there is a difference between those that answer God’s call vs those who decide for themselves what they think their call should actually be.

There is an example I often think of when I think about callings. It’s as simple as receiving a phone call. Sometimes, when the phone rings and we know who’s calling, we might have an idea what they’re going to say. Some people may even proceed full steam ahead without even answering the phone. I experienced this with a coworker who was on a call with her sister. Her sister was so loud, I could hear her every word clearly from a desk over. She yelled out what her plans were and hung up without getting confirmation or further details from my coworker. After the call disconnected, my coworker looked at me and stated that she didn’t have the opportunity to tell her sister that she didn’t need to do any of those things. It has already been taken care of. 

 We assume we know what the answer will be without actually answering the call...

We occasionally do the same thing to God. We assume we know what the answer will be without actually answering the call. Or, like in the example with my coworker, we’re so busy yelling out our own plans, that we don’t have time to actually listen to God’s plan. He loves us so much that each of us has received a very special invitation to come and dine with him. We’ve all received a call to Salvation. Don’t miss out on that free gift by being too busy to spend to answer his call.

Stay Sunny!

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