When The Lord Calls
When the Lord thy God calls upon you and gives you a specific mission to achieve, the first thing you should do is say YES!
But, what if you don’t know if it is really the Lord who is giving you this signal? What if it is only chatter in your mind? Still say YES!
What if you do not know how to discern the message you are receiving? He’ll help you figure it out, just say YES!
But what if you feel unqualified to do big things or to lead anyone as God usually seems to require? Still say YES!
God once had to speak through the mouth of a donkey to the person riding the donkey issuing him a command to stop riding into a demon spirit. God gave Balaam all sorts of hints and inner messages, yet Balaam had all the same reluctant questions until God opened the donkey’s mouth and spoke to Balaam. Below is a synopsis of that story written in the book of Numbers chapter 22.
“When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me!”
If you care to hear the entire story go to that chapter in Numbers and read the entire story. I only wanted to make the point that God will find a way to communicate with those whom He calls for a specific mission. Also, the reluctance most people feel is not unusual. It would be more unusual if the recipient did not question what they were receiving. The Lord tells us to question every spirit using the name of the Lord because many spirits will attempt to enter your airspace trying to deceive you with a message from the Lord. Remember what the serpent did with Adam and Eve? The Lord Himself had to come down and set the record straight.
I share this with you because I have been receiving signals from the Lord for quite some time now and I do wrestle with my calling. Throughout the Bible, we hear such stories. Look at Moses! Look at Jonah, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, and nearly all the great prophets. They were required to write the precise words spoken by God. How do you think they reacted to hearing from God directly? Might they have been a bit cautious, especially to allow such sacred words to pass through them that was for God’s people? I say this to let you know that as spoken by Christ Himself, “Many are called but few are chosen.” In some way, God speaks to all His chosen children but not all of them are destinated to achieve such great and monumental missions.
I’m sure many of you are called and go through the same sort of reluctance. It is only natural to do so as indicated by our biblical scriptures. The chosen part is precise because when God wants something to be done by an individual, it will get done. Ask that of Moses or of Jonah or several dozen others that carried out their missions. But what of today? Don’t you think this world today needs precise and clear instructions from the almighty God? The answer is YES! But look at the parade of lies one has to swim through just to figure out what is truth. Especially today with all the venues of social media and the countless channels of broadcast media and even the fools who intentionally go around spreading lies and made-up conspiracy theories. Is everyone that gullible or, are some of them just plain stupid on purpose?
Let me not venture too far from my subject here because you may be one that God has called and are reluctant to carry out your mission at hand. I can’t say anything specific in relation to a specific instruction to you from God but share in a general sense what it is like to receive a calling and not know what to do next. From my experience, just say YES and allow God to make it as plain as possible that even a herald could understand. In Habakkuk, we have a passage that might assist you.
“Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” Chapter 2, verses 2-3.
As you can see the word of God has all the answers to most of the questions one would ask because over our history many have been called and had the same questions. What make you think that it should be different for you? Do you remember what happened to the apostle Paul on the Damascus road? All these individuals were chosen for a specific mission and in the end, they all did what God ordered them to do. But not every mission is one of history-changing or world-changing. What if your calling is to save a specific child or person that God wants you to lead forward about His word? God has literally trillions of missions and not all of them require you to lead His people out of bondage. Some might be to assist one soul that is struggling. God could have put their help in you. Would you not say YES to the Lord?
It looks like after nearly a quarter of a century that God has called me to be a writer. I don’t recall setting out to be this person because I was satisfied being a musician. The relationship between hearing sounds to put to paper and hearing messages that I am to put to paper is not that far of a stretch. The issue with me was knowing how sinful I had been and the feeling of being unworthy to do anything for God. Might I remind you again of the person Saul who became Paul? I make no such comparison but between Balaam’s donkey and the great apostle Paul, perhaps there is a tiny bit of room for me to write as I sense it coming from the Spirit.
For me, this calling has been a very long process of learning how to hear, how to write, and how to follow specific instructions, and still, I struggle to get it right. I still do not feel comfortable writing words that people might read because I do not want to lead others astray. But over time I am learning not to trust in my mind but trust in a superior mind that is far greater and smarter than I. If the donkey can speak then perhaps I will give this writing thing a try… as long as the Lord has my back covered. Besides, I do the Lord a great disservice by being reluctant when our world is suffering so much at the hands of evildoers.
If there is only one word that I can say to just one person that makes a difference… then I must be of great courage and stand up for the Lord. Even if I am wrong in my interpretation and my heart was in the right intent, then God will be God and do what He alone is capable of doing, which is reaching out to His people.
I don’t want to make this a long drawn-out message because this one should only alert some of you that God might be calling you at this very moment asking you to achieve a specific mission for the Kingdom. What will you say? Why not use the name of Christ Jesus to distinguish the spirit that may be rattling in your mind and then boldly go forward doing that thing you feel God is calling you to do? God is the only living God but there are many mini and demigods. Don’t you worry about trying to protect God, He is quite capable. He is also willing once you say YES to Him. Don’t be shy, the Lord awaits your answer. Do not worry about what you are to say or do, He will touch your tongue or guide your steps as necessary. To almighty God be the glory. ‘Selah!’