The Call

 I once heard a genteel southern lady in her early 60's tell of how she'd felt led of the Spirit to start up a ministry in her home for recently released female prisoners as a means of helping them transition back into society, and at the same time, minister to their souls. She said the beginning years of this ministry were extremely difficult, far more than she'd expected. She'd always believed that the Father had a destiny for her, but found herself asking Him, "Lord, is this it?" If you're following what you believe is His call upon your life, I expect you've asked the same.

Pastors are leaving the ministry at a frightening rate. In articles about this, a number of reasons are given; exhaustion, depression, financial or family pressure, or just plain spiritual burnout. Ultimately, they come to the place of thinking they've no other choice but to step away, to resign. I make no judgement. A commitment to true ministry will require more sacrifice than anything else you could do. It's a 24/7 "job." There are no real "off days" involved in the calling, so I make no judgement. And there's another aspect to all this. You don't have to be a "professional" in terms of ministry and serving in His Kingdom to also be a part of this exodus of a life in and for Him. There are so many who want to "resign" their current state in life and all that goes with it. Their marriage, their family, their church, even their walk with Him. Turning away, turning aside, can seem like the only available option to one who feels they simply can't go on. Yet there is another, if only we'll allow Him to open the eyes of our heart to see it. Even in the midst of our deepest disappointment, discouragement, and despair.

Last week I wrote of the wounds I'd suffered in life and in His calling. I left out something I want to share today. After the collapse of my marriage, I had to leave my ministry and calling. The hiatus would last a little more than a year. In that time I discovered that there was something far greater, bigger, and more powerful than any wound, disappointment, or defeat that I could experience. I discovered the power of His call upon my life. The longer my time out of ministry lasted, the stronger the sense of His calling became. I longed to return to the very life that had brought so much pain. I could because His call so captivated my heart and life that nothing could turn me away from it. The wounds and pain were real. His call and Lordship were more real. In that year away He reminded me and rebuilt within me an understanding of the sacredness of His call. Like Jeremiah, I knew that I could not keep within me what He had placed there. I had to fulfill His calling.

In knowing that, I began to understand as well that my call was not about MY destiny and MY legacy. It was about being faithful and being obedient. It was about fulfilling His call no matter where it was He placed me and no matter what I encountered in that place. I learned anew that whatever the frustrations, disappointments and hurts were, His call, which also included His magnificent presence, would sustain me.

So often in the Old Testament, when God called a man and placed before him the seeming impossible, He promised, "and I will go with you." He doesn't simply call us to a task. He calls us to Himself.

Wherever you are in His call today, and there are none of His whom He has not called to some work in His Kingdom, may you re-discover the sacredness of the call. He has sent you out but not alone. He goes with you. He will sustain you. The results of it all have to be left to Him. Your part, our part, is to be faithful in the call. That is our true destiny. That's also our true legacy. Faithful to the call....to the very end.

Blessings,

Pastor O