“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14 NLT)
The above verse is found in a parable the Lord told regarding His eternal Kingdom. The invitation is proclaimed far and wide, and everyone is invited to the “banquet,” but most who are called find themselves enmeshed in the things of the world and miss their window of opportunity to “attend.”
Thinking about the “calling” the Lord extends to us, it occurred to me that many of us, even those of us who know the Lord and genuinely want to follow Him closely and correctly, can “miss” what He’s actually calling us to do. How so?
Nearly half of my pastoral “adventure” was spent in a bi-vocational setting. The small church I served paid me what they could, and I worked full time in a non-church setting. At least early on, it seemed I was being “wasted” by not being able to serve a larger church, but the more I thought about it, I was exactly where I needed to be.
But here’s the point – so are you, my friend, so are you! Do you not realize that the Lord needs “pastors and ministers,” workers in the vineyards of His world to reach the ones who would otherwise rarely, if ever, darken the doors of an evangelical church? By God’s grace I was able to meet and influence people I likely would have never met had I not been working in my “secular” job.
My boss came to church and brought his two young rowdy boys who loved it and begged him to bring them back. The owners of one of my accounts were believers who were active in their church but came to speak to my people about their ministry. In many settings I had opportunity to speak on a more personal basis with people I would likely never have met had it not been in that non-church setting.
Do you believe the Lord has called you to ministry? I certainly hope so, because He calls each one of His children to work in the vineyards of His world. There are things that you can do that no one else can do, people you can influence positively for Jesus like no one else can.
You may believe you’re stuck in that “dead end job” and you can continue to believe that, or you can begin to see that job and the people with whom you work as your “mission field.” Instead of begging God for another job, beg Him for insight and understanding as to how to more effectively see the needs of those invisible people. Learn to look at them instead of through them!
Ask the Lord to enhance your “ears” so you can not only hear their words or their sour attitudes, but their hurting hearts and their dying souls. Like me, what you’re tempted to consider a “waste” is actually a clear picture of God’s wisdom in placing us exactly where we need to be.
Often our own discomfort or restlessness isn’t because we’re mismatched with our assignment, but because of our own spirit’s need to have more of God. We may very well be exactly where the Lord has planted us but have been so distracted by our own desire to be “anyplace else,” that we’ve missed God’s heart in seeking to equip us to be more effective exactly where we are.
God will only “grow” us where He “plants” us, so rather than looking everywhere else and hoping to be “there,” buckle down, listen to His strong voice and follow His directives right where you are! Remember, as Janet Pashall wrote: “God always equips us for the work for which He calls us.”
He doesn’t equip us for a work to which He hasn’t called us.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 