“He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24
When Jeremiah the prophet was called of God, he knew it, the Lord confirming it on the basis of His working before Jeremiah was born. When Moses was called of God to go to Egypt and deliver the people of Israel, he was about eighty years old, herding sheep on the back side of a desert, not anticipating the revelation of God to him through a burning bush, and yet, Moses became convinced quickly that indeed, the God of Abraham was speaking to him, specifically concerning that which was the will and calling of God. When Isaiah was called of God, being gripped by the vision of the thrice-holy God upon His throne, not only would it have the effect of persuading Isaiah that, compared to God he was nothing, unclean, and broken,” but that God was addressing him specifically, first to do a work of cleansing in his heart, and upon his lips, but more so, an eternal work concerning God’s calling for him to be a prophet to Israel, and to the world. Isaiah became convinced, and convicted, of God’s intervention in his life, by the clear, powerful and precise message to him: “…your iniquity is taken away…Go and tell this people…” (Is. 6:7,9) In these examples of God’s calling, as well as in countless others throughout the word of God, there are found certain aspects of their calling that would be true of them all. These same characteristics are true of God’s calling of all of His servants today. This subject of God’s choosing, and calling, of an individual to Himself, and then to the work which God has called him to trust Him for, is very important if one would believe God for His fulness, the fulness of His blessing and power, for the realization of His task, the believer’s purpose in the sight of God.
The first thing to recognize concerning these different “callings” is that indeed, none of them is the same in the way God revealed Himself to each individual. There has never been another Jeremiah, Moses, or Apostle Paul. And so, it is with every child of God. God reveals Himself to the heart, bringing all sinners to a saving knowledge of Him, then, into a deep and rich communion with Him. Everyone is different from the other, with a perspective and calling that is unique to God’s purpose. The gifts of God, and His calling are without repentance, i.e. He does not retract or remove them, for they correspond to the grand design of His purposes.
Secondly, the specific calling of God is a unique, and personal one with God. It is not only a covenant relationship, which the believer shares with every other believer by the Spirit, but it is one where fellowship with Christ is uniquely every believer’s reward. The call of God is the call to a specific communion with God, a personal walk with and before Him. Christ not only died for all men, but for every individual. Having been equipped with specific gifts by the Spirit, the call has come forth for the individual believer to abide in Christ, so that, in communion with Him, Christ’s purposes will be fulfilled. When all the members of the body of Christ abide in Him, and He in them, with all serving God in the fellowship of the Spirit according to each calling, where each believer in unity esteems the other more important than oneself, the promised blessing of God will be revealed, Life ever more. (Ps. 133:3)
Thirdly, since God is not a God of confusion, but One of truth, light, and clarity, God makes known clearly, and convincingly that which is His will and calling of each individual, if one is willing to seek Him for it. James the Apostle wrote: “…you do not have because you do not ask.” (4:3) In addition, the Lord Jesus clearly declared, “… everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened.” (Matt.7:8)
Dear Father, Be our convincing clarity today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.