God’s Call (D)
GOD’S CALL
We need never ask the question, “How do I know I’m called?” We ought rather to ask, “How do I know I am not called?” We are required to take the risk, move, trust God, make a beginning. This is what Jesus always asked of those who came to Him for help of any kind. Sometimes He asked them to state their case (“What do you want Me to do?”), to affirm their desire (“Do you want to be healed?”), and often to do something positive (“Stretch out your hand”) before He could do His work. There had to be evidence of faith, some kind of beginning on their part. The first baby step of faith is followed by a daily walk of obedience, and it is as we continue with Him in His Word that we are assured that we were, in fact, called and have nothing to fear.
The most common fear of the true disciple, I suppose, is his own unworthiness. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, a group of Christians who had made some terrible messes even inside the church itself, he still never doubted their calling; for they were prepared to hear the Word and to be guided and corrected. It was not the perfection of their faith that convinced him they were called. They had made a beginning. In that beginning, Paul found evidence of faith: “It is in full reliance upon God, through Christ, that we make such claims. There is no question of our being qualified in ourselves: we cannot claim anything as our own. The qualification we have comes from God” (2 Cor. 3:4-5).
Desire and conviction both play a part in vocation. Often the desire comes first. There may be a natural inclination or an interest aroused by information or perhaps an unexplained longing. If these sometimes-deceptive feelings are offered to the Master and subjected to the test of His Word, they will be confirmed by various means and become a conviction. Sometimes the conviction comes first, accompanied not always by desire but by fear or dread, as in the case of the Old Testament prophets who were given very hard assignments. The only thing to do then is arise and go.