God's Calls

The Calls

            I was reading in I Peter yesterday in preparation for Sunday School class lessons and realized that the emphasis on God’s calls I found in that book seemed to jump out at me. This morning I remembered when Dad used to whistle to call us kids to come home from the neighborhood yards in which we found great joy in playing with our friends. We did not ponder whether to answer the whistle or not. We knew it was time to go in and so we went.

            I wonder how promptly I answer the calls of God in my life? I think I will reflect just a few minutes this morning on some calls from Scripture that I remember. On another day, I want to reflect on another topic that is pressing in on my mind this morning: the questions God and Jesus asked. I have wondered about this topic for some time and know that I want to do an extensive study on it at some point. I have a long list of things I want to do!

            Some of the calls in Scripture I remember this morning:

1.     God’s call to Adam and Eve in the garden when He asked them where they were and what they had been doing. This is a good example of the ponderings I want to do…both on the calls and the questions of God. Perhaps I will see they are more related than I first considered.

2.     God’s call to Abraham to leave his country and go to a land where God would show him. It takes faith to do this…to answer and to go, not knowing all the details!

3.   God’s call to Moses to stand before the Pharaoh. God had to humble Moses before he was usable. That is a good reminder for us. Perhaps one of the reasons we do not hear the call of God on our lives or we are unable to carry it out is because we are not through the humbling by God that is necessary.

4.     God’s calls to the prophets. All kinds of people, with all kinds of giftings and weaknesses. But God always equips those He calls if they will but answer and obey.

5.     I think of God’s call to Jonah to do something he did not want to do. What an humbling experience God had to take him through to get him to be obedient. And even when he went, there was more humbling necessary. It is definitely a process. I am glad God keeps at it! Transformation is done as we allow Him to do it. The more we fight and resist, the longer it will take. But He never gives up. I like that, although it is painful to go through the process. But we are the ones who make it painful, not God.

6.     There are all kinds of calls recorded in the Bible, both the initial call and the little ‘calls within a calling,’ as I would describe them. Elijah was most certainly called to be a prophet, but there are many callings within that calling. Some were exciting ones, like the Mount Carmel experience, while others were not so fun. Running from Jezebel was not anything enviable to be sure. And Jeremiah probably loved some of his work while certainly hating things like being thrown in a cistern or wearing a yoke as an object lesson to disobedient listeners. And I am sure Amos hated going into the middle of the alternate worship center in the north, preaching a message of doom and subsequently being asked to go back home to the south where he belonged. And that threat was by a religious leader!

7.     I think of the calls of Jesus to His various disciples, and to the calls within calls to them as they walked along with Him and as He left them to return to heaven. The training of the called is interesting, too. My, what patience our Lord has with His called ones!

8.     There were the calls to discipleship that Jesus offered to everyone He met, some gladly accepting the invitation and some rejecting the call. Money stood in the way of the rich young ruler. Religious convictions and pride stood in the way of the Pharisees and other religious groups. Some of their stubbornness was the result of self-satisfaction and religious pride. Why would anyone be open to a call when we feel we are just fine as we are?

9.     There are on-going calls to all of us to go deeper with God. We are called to a life of holiness, commitment, walking in the light, confession and cleansing. We are called to take up our crosses, to die to self, to choose the way of life. I wonder how well we are doing with the ongoing calls of the Spirit to follow Jesus and to do His will no matter how difficult it may seem?

10. We are called to be free, called to pray, called to witness, called to preach, called to prayer, called to walk humbly with God, called to obey, called to be faithful. I can only search my heart and listen for the daily call of God on my own life. But I also desire and choose to be a vessel to help others understand the call of God on their life.

            One day I will hear the ‘whistle of God’ to come home. I will gladly answer. I know He knows when is the right time for that. But in the meantime I will do my best, by His grace, to answer and obey the other callings on my life. “Here I am, Lord. I gladly answer and follow.”

                                                                                                                                    -Alice
                                                                                                                                    11/2/13