September 18, 2018

Follow God’s Calling

“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows.” – Luke 12:47

What has God called you to do? Are you doing it? Are you waiting for a better day or when you have more time, more money, more energy?

We tend to procrastinate, especially when it’s something we don’t really want to do. Maybe especially when it’s something out of our comfort zone. God generally calls us to go out of our comfort zone, doesn’t He?

Why do we think we’ve got plenty of time? We live as though we have unlimited tomorrows stretched out before us. The truth is that none of us know how long we have.

Last Friday night a woman in a neighboring community attended a local high school football game. She was heading back to her car when she was struck and killed by another vehicle. It surely wasn’t what she had planned. She worked. She had a family. She had a life. And now she’s with Jesus.

Another woman talked about the sudden death of her sister. She was only 29. It was a car wreck. Instant death for her. A lifetime of grieving for her sister and their family.

We know all this. We know that bad things happen to absolutely wonderful people. We know that tomorrow might not come. We can quote all those clichés. But we ignore them when we are called to serve God.

We get so caught up in what we think is important that we miss what He wants us to do. We want our lives to be all about us but they aren’t. Our lives are meant to glorify God. Why do we miss that? Why do we ignore His call?

Let me give you another example. Lisa Harper is a wonderful Bible teacher with an adorable daughter she adopted from Haiti. Harper tells how she’d wanted to adopt years earlier but was discouraged by someone who didn’t think she’d be a suitable parent. The woman actually told her to go to the pound and adopt a dog.

Now, I’m all about adopting dogs, especially when it means saving their lives by removing them from a kill shelter. But I’ve watched Harper with her daughter. She’s an awesome mama. Harper herself has wondered if perhaps she missed other children by believing someone else’s lies.

Sometimes that’s what happens. We feel a nudge from God. We seek wise counsel but that counsel turns out to not be so wise. So, do we follow God or do we believe the lies, albeit well-meaning, and turn away from what God wants us to do?

God’s calling rarely makes sense to anyone else. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to us. But He’s got a different vantage point. He sees the big picture. He knows what’s coming and how what He’s called us to do will impact that.

So, don’t wait. If God calls you to do something, just do it. Let yourself be afraid. Let yourself feel insecure. But do it anyway. You’ll never be sorry for following His call.