God's Call

Back when I was still considering many missions' trips, I must admit that Satan had me sort of frozen in a clutch of fear. I was so young, and a foreign missions' trip was so long to be away from home. What if something were to happen?

And yet I felt God calling...me? Timid, shy little me? Surely an unadventurous, stay-out-the-way homebody would never survive a week unless it was by Divine Providence!

Just the other day, however, God stopped me in my tracks. It wasn't just me He was calling...it was everyone.

Yep. You. Me. Great Aunt Jane. The guy across the street who has a Jesus bumpersticker on his motorcycle. All of us- no matter where we are, of what social status we are, or what we're doing- if you are a born-again Christian, then you have specified orders from God that you are to go out and spread the Word in whatever way possible.

Now, I'm not saying that you have to go face a tribe of head-hunters that happen to be armed with...well, let's just say less than comforting accessories. What I am saying is that you must listen and be able to distinguish God's Voice from among all the other voices we hear in our world today. You must learn to ascertain what He's saying, where He's telling you to go or whether He's begging You to stay and work for Him wherever You happen to be (hey, and even if you do die at the hands of the head-hunters, at least you'll have died doing something you know God wanted you to do). And, to tell you the truth, nowhere in Scripture does it exempt any of us from persecution. Nowhere that I know of does it say that such-and-such a nationality of Christians won't be persecuted because they were born in such-and-such a country. Given that many governments today protect a person with the promise to either prevent or avenge any voluntary harm upon that individual's body, there is no guarantee that persecution cannot come from elsewhere. Look at how Christianity is quickly declining into the "uncool" category of our culture. With people of conflicting and too often times dangerous worldviews muddling and poisoning us with the trifles and pleasures of this world, our population is beginning to sip that which satisfies their sinful lusts. And, once drunk on those lusts, will tempt and ridicule all those who do not follow their example. It is to these people that many of us are called to reach, and their job- if perhaps less life-threatening- is not much easier than those who go abroad to reach some of the most primitive people groups of the world.

If you should, however, feel God's call to go abroad, do not- PLEASE do not- hesitate as I did. You will not only be wasting your time, but you will be out on some of the coolest God-moments of your life. Perhaps not the least of which is the new courage and strength He will give you.

And if you're thinking you're not perfect for the job...you're right! No one's perfect. You're going to trip- you might catch yourself, you might not. But the glorious thing is that God knows we're imperfect. He knows. He knows we'll stumble. He knows we'll fall. And yet He chooses us to carry out His perfect plan. That's a miracle within itself, is it not?

So my point (or, rather, God's point since He's the One doing the calling) here is that there really is no excuse for us not to be ministering to each other- whether it's to the man who sits next to us on the subway, our friends at school, or some remote tribe to which God has just been telling you to go to. He calls all of us. Even the timid, shy ones. He created us the way we are. He loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us so that we- who were imperfect for that as well- could live forever with Him if we just believe. Through our imperfections, He sees Christ. And will those you mission to if you are right where He wants you to be.