“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT)
The Prophet Isaiah, from which Paul’s quote is taken, said: “For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like You, who works for those who wait for Him!”
Calling must grow out of our understanding of the One who calls us. To misunderstand who God is, is to misunderstand that to which He calls us. The Bible is clear in giving us understanding that every child of God is called to be like Jesus, but how do I know that? Because Paul makes it clear in Romans 8:29 when he writes: “For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory.”
Calling grows out of our relationship with God made possible through placing our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He personally chose us to have right standing with Himself, that we might reflect His glory in how we live our lives. The specific role that calling will take depends on several things. The Bible says God knew us in advance, obviously pointing to the fact He designed and created us. So? Doesn’t it stand to reason that if I design something, I’d have its intended use in mind?
God gave each of us specific gifts and abilities. He made us tall or short, large or small, extremely intelligent or not so much; extremely talented or very average; personable or rough around the proverbial “edges.” No two of us are exactly alike and that’s by specific design. He has a unique role for each of us to play in His Kingdom; thus, a unique calling on each of our lives.
Never seek to pattern your life based on any other person except Jesus. Yes, of course, the Lord puts people in our lives who influence, teach, instruct, and in many ways model for us the ways of God, what it might look like to follow Jesus closely. But our goal is to become the best version of US that we can be in light of who God designed and desires US to be.
My Mentor, James C. Burchett, modeled Jesus in ways that astounded me. He was an excellent preacher and communicator, and he taught me a lot by what he said, but he taught me even more by what he lived. He lived by dependence upon Jesus, loving, serving, sacrificing behind the scenes in ways that few were privileged to see. As a teen I heard Brother Jim preach at a Youth Camp before I had met him or knew who he was. I remember thinking: “If the Lord ever calls me to preach, I want to be like him!”
As God would have it, a few years later the Lord DID call me to preach and did allow me to have a longstanding relationship with Jim, but in my efforts to be like him I almost missed who God intended me to be – ME! I can’t now, nor could I ever have been the communicator Jim Burchett was, but, while many may question this, He’s gifted me as a writer, not a speaker. I’ve never been a great speaker, but the Lord has used the written words He’s given me to communicate in powerful ways.
How has the Lord gifted you? Therein lies your calling! He designed you to be exactly who you are, no one else, fully in love with Him. There are people you can reach that I nor Jim nor anyone else but you can reach, but only as you can. Calling only counts when we channel who God designed us to be into leading those in our spheres of influence to Jesus. Each of us “shares Christ” in a way unique to who the Lord made us, but make no mistake, we’re all called to be in the business of pointing others to Him.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 