Listening for the Call

Many folks who live as believers in Christ live with the assumption that their lives are empty of the calling of God.  Preachers are called to preach and missionaries are called to the mission field, but a call just does not come to those not preachers or missionaries.  What is often missed is that a call may have a life time impact, but it is also true that sometimes the call of God is for a work or ministry that is so short term it can stare us in the face without being seen.   Discernment is often a gift for which we should more often pray as it is needed by all of us as we seek to know the bidding of God.

 

Not everyone is called to the pulpit or the mission field.  Not everyone is called to be a Jeremiah or a Simon Peter.  But, the reality is that if we live under the influence of Christ, we are going to be receiving some kind of call to be about some kind of ministry.  It may not be something which is grandiose and world shaping.  It may instead be some simple thing that speaks of meeting the need of someone who is as close as the neighbor next door, or the person whose path intersects with our own.  What is required to experience the call of God is not theological training, but an openness to the work of God in our life. 

 

How might our life be different if we started every day by declaring to God that we are available to do whatever it is that might need doing in the places where He will be sending us in the day stretching out before us?  How might our life be different if we went into each day with the expectation of being useful to God before the day was done?  Could it be that God is calling us to partner with Him in some act of love and care every day and yet we miss it simply because we are not looking or listening?  Sometimes God is calling and we are not listening.