Called by God

The topic of God's call and ministry calling has come onto my radar from a variety of sources this week.

This is something I have wrestled with a lot over the years. From time-to-time I've studied in detail what God's Word (and especially the lives of certain Bible characters) have to say about the matter. Through dialogue with people in ministry, personal experience and facilitating a hefty amount of youth ministry training God's Spirit has helped me to develop some fairly deep convictions about what it means to be called by God.

Four key bible passages which I see as foundational concerning any consideration of God’s calling are;

Nehemiah 2:12 (heart burden)

“..what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem..”

Ephesians 4:1,2 (live worthy)

“..I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

2 Thessalonians 1:11 (power to fulfil)

“..we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfil every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.”

Hebrews 3:1 (heavenly calling)

“Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.”

So what then does it mean for us to be called into ministry…to be ministers of the gospel of Jesus?

As I’ve taken time to study a number of ‘call of God’ passages in the Old Testament I see a very clear pattern [not a formula!] emerging time and time again.

Men such as Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah and others have shown me that... 

• God has a specific purpose/assignment at a point or season in time,
• Because it is from God, the purpose/assignment is God-sized - it’s not something man can complete or fulfil on his own.
• God calls a particular person to serve Him and the fulfilment of His purpose.
• The person tends to stand out for their ordinariness!! They’re often not the kind of person that would be chosen by the people of the day.
• The person is in no doubt that they have heard from God – He gets their attention!
• God’s call is often accompanied by some kind of visual sign or imagery (burning bush, branch of almond tree, fleece, etc).
• The person responding to God’s voice & God’s call says something like; “Who me?” “Why me?” “Not me!!”, or (to paraphrase in today's language) “you’ve got to be kidding!”
• The person experiences some form of personal crisis of belief  or test of faith.
• When the person eventually says ‘yes’ to accepting God’s call, God tends to confirm and affirm His call and person, & finally,
• God gets the job done through the person and the glory goes to…God - His purpose prevails!

I see it all as a process of alignment. Applied to the person of faith I think Henry Blackaby says it best;

 “You have to decide whether you are going to do what you want and ask God to bless it, or to go to work where he is working.”

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Some time ago I asked my wife Judy to give me her perspective on God's calling. She always shoots pretty straight. She outlined three key points;

1. Always be open to God’s leading.
2. Don’t stay somewhere just because you might be comfortable there.
3. God does move people on in ministry.

A few questions for further consideration...

What do your own experiences and heart convictions teach you about what it means to be called by God?

What are the greatest hindrances to being effective in fulfilling your calling to stay the course in ministry?

What are some practical ways we can help an emerging generation of leaders discern God’s call upon their lives?  What do they most need from us?

Do you see any links between recruitment and God’s calling into ministry, or are the two mutually exclusive?

"The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self - all your wishes and precautions - to Christ."               CS Lewis, Mere Christianity