Wednesday, January 5, 2011

January 5 Following God's Call

Genesis 12:1  The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land that I will show you."

The discussion today is about the call of God - how do we know it and what really matters - our willingness to obey.  Smith says that God is unlikely to call us to a better paying job or upscale house, but I am not so sure about that.  I don't think God calls all of us to poverty.  I think his call looks like his enabling. In other words, he has fitted us to what he wants us to do and where he wants us to go.

I want to look at one particular line from Smith's work here: And how can we ever be certain it is God's bidding that prompts us rather than our own selfish desires? 

This verse immediately brought to my mind Psalm 37: 1-7, but I will quote only verses 3-5:  Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed.  Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; t rust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. (I use KJV  only because that is the translation from which I first memorized this passage.)

I kind of think it boils down to this:
1. Am I fully trusting in God, confident that he is good and that he knows what I need (opportunities and abilities) to glorify him?
2.  Am I doing good - that which God would consider righteous acts - motivated by a desire to glorify him, not myself?
3.  Am I delighting myself in him - anticipating with joy spending time with him, finding it delightful, pleasureable, fun even hanging out with him and serving him and being with like-minded people? 
4.  Am I fully committed to him, following wherever he leads, knowing that he will use who and how  he made me, my circumstances, my time with him, and believers in my life to show me the path to take?  I do not believe that God would lead me some place that he has not prepared me for.

All of that to say that God may sometimes require me to trust him, believe him for what I do not see easily, but I also believe what he asks of me will make sense in light of who he has made me.  For instance, if I have no language aptitude, it is unlikely that he would call me to Japan.

And I believe that God unfolds his plan a part at a time, because we probably would think he is making a big mistake if we could see the whole thing.  I can look back and see what God was doing when he took us to Africa, and more importantly for me, when he brought us back.  However, if I knew ahead of time, I'm not sure I could have understood what he was doing.

So, back to the beginning, God has called most of us in the western world to great wealth.  After all, most of us have many changes of clothing, a closet full of clothing, and we will go to a warm bed with a roof over our head, unlike over half of the world.  And God has trusted some believers with great wealth - note I say trusted.  They must consider how to use their wealth and position for God's glory and remember also that he gave it to them.  They are as lost and spiritually needy as the poor.  I do think it is scary personally to be wealthy - too easy to be self-secure and self-important.  Maybe that is why I have not been trusted with that kind of wealth.

So, I think as long as we are trusting God, doing good, delighting ourselves in him, reminaing fully committed to him, he will purify our desires.  And our desires may be one more way that God can show us his will, his leading.

2 comments:

  1. I should have read this before I left the house today! :) Thanks for posting.

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  2. This is an area that I have wrestled with because of the way that many Christians view God's calling (or we could easily substitute the word "calling" for "will"). It seems to be a mystical term that no one can really understand, but I think you nailed it, Carol, when you said it is about trusting and delighting in God.

    I keep thinking about stewardship (probably because my husband and I are revamping our finances again), but it is so important to view ourselves as stewards with whatever God has entrusted us with. To those God has given much much will be required - that can be in the matter of money, talents or abilities.

    Dave Ramsey says money is amoral - it, in itself, is not evil or good - it is how we use the money God has given us. We can be in God's will in the biggest mansion in America or in the poorest shack in Africa. I have known many poor people who are selfish and many rich people who are generous. Whatever God has given me in earthly goods should not change my heart's desire to honor and serve Him.

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