Can't say NO! Every man has a Call

Dear readers, all of the Bible is proof to the truth that God is in Supreme control of everything whether admitted or denied by mankind. It is also proof to the truth that all of everything belongs to Him and Him alone. God’s plan for this world of His is so very great and far more high than anything that the human mind can fathom or fabricate. This beautiful and high purpose of God includes all of Mankind and the Bible also heralds the truth that it is through people that He superintends His will. No one who is called God’s own can deny being part of His will or being used for His kingdom cause.  But seldom do we see God’s people respond in God’s frequency. Often we fall back feeling unworthy or inadequate and choose to respond to God’s call saying, “I am weak, I do not have ability to do such things”, without realizing that the infinite God has ordained to script His high and beautiful purposes through the seemingly inadequate man.

Having said that God has special plans for his children it is also important to understand that God has differing plans for distinctly different individuals. In human physiology, just like the organs of the body do differing tasks, so it is with God’s ordinance for different people. Moses, Gideon and Jeremiah are great examples of God’s call of duty reaching out to seemingly inadequate individuals reluctant to accept distinctly differing ordinances. I am attempting to present to your conscious observation a gentle truth involving these two issues, Man’s seeming inadequacy and God’s dissimilar calls for different individuals.

When God called out to Moses in Exodus chapter 3& 4, Moses said, “I do not know to talk. Please send someone else. They will not trust me”. He was reeling one excuse after another at God trying to justify why he thought he was no good that God had to bellow at him saying,” who gave human beings their mouths? Is it not I, the Lord?” Moses argued about his inadequacies and rallied around his incapacities. Moses saw himself as weak both physically and emotionally.

In a different time at a different place, when God’s call came to Gideon, impulsively he too withdraws saying, And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” Judges 6:15 (ESV)Gideon felt inadequate because of his social standing. He was fettered by societal bondage and its pressures.

Jeremiah too was no exception, for when God called unto him, not understanding the foreknowledge of God, he tries to shrink away saying, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” Jeremiah 1:6 (ESV)

In line with these characters of the bible, “I am afraid” is the response of many. Many are mentally weak. They are afraid - living in continual fear due to a tainted past, or a bitter past experience or due to emotional insecurities or infirmities. Many are emotionally chained and they need an emotional release. God wants to release you as He dealt with Moses and released him from emotional bondage. If you are tied down, bound by your emotions, negative attitudes and a haunted past, the good news is “God wants to deliver you today”. The Bible declares that, if the Son delivers, you are delivered indeed.

Just like Gideon, socially many may be weak or in a low rank, or from insignificant families. But when you come into Christ you become part of one big family. Being a child of God, you can go to any country and call any Christian around the world a brother or a sister. That’s the power of ‘belonging’ we claim being part of His church. In India ‘Casteism’ is tactful devilish instrument that traps people, even God’s children into societal bondage. Even people in high positions are made to feel low because of the perceived lower standing of their caste. This is painfully possible in the church as well. But Jesus delivers you not only emotionally but also from social status, pressures and bondages. As his chosen royal priesthood you need to be encouraged and be courageous. You should not even confess let alone believe negative social impositions since you belong to Jesus who is victor over Satan and the world.

Many more are held back like Jeremiah, without understanding the foreknowledge of God. God helps you to come out of this inadequacy as well. He said to Jeremiah, “I not only created you in your mother’s womb, I knew you before you were born and set you apart, and appointed you in your mother’s womb”. This revelation about God’s pre-destiny released Jeremiah into fulfilling God’s greater purpose. God has chosen you too even before the foundation of the world, for God says “he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” Ephesians 1:5 (ESV). The understanding of God’s foreknowledge releases you into the knowledge of the providence of God.

If you are bound emotionally, socially or due to the ignorance of God’s fore-knowledge, you need a release. Only God can deliver you from bondage. The Bible says in II Corinthians 3:17,  “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”. (ESV). However great your inadequacy or gigantic your God ordained task might be, the Lord’s strength is sufficient to break all bondages and equip you to accomplish all that you are called to accomplish.

Understanding and appreciating the uniqueness of your call is as important as handling and overcoming the bondage of your inadequacies. Let me elaborate using a real life analogy. Consider a football team. Each player in the team performs a different role. The Goalkeeper’s role is to prevent the ball from crossing beyond the goal line of the goal post. Only he has the liberty to collect the ball in his hand, that too only within a defined area, which no other player can. But if he failing to understand his own significance wants to go and score a goal, he fails the team and the whole team loses. It is different for the defenders; they support the goalkeeper; however they cannot hand-touch the ball. They play defense. As for the strikers, their task is to enter into the opponent’s territory, strategize a strike and score goals. They play offence. The game is the same but the roles are different.

In a similar kind of way God wants us to answer to distinctly differing calls of duty. When God’s people were held captive by their enemy, God called Moses saying, “I will send you. You must talk to the king. I will do miraculous deeds through you and seeing the deeds the king will send the people. And you will lead the people to Canaan”.  And like Moses you could be called to deliver the people from the enemy’s (Satan) captivity.

In the life of Gideon, we see the work required out of Gideon was different. God called Gideon to scatter the enemies, when His people were surrounded by them.

God called Jeremiah for a different purpose too. He called him to save His people, the people who have become hard hearted and who have turned away from God. Jeremiah’s call was to warn the people of the forth coming danger from enemies.

The works of Moses, Gideon and Jeremiah were entirely different. Moses delivered God’s people. Gideon drove out the enemy and Jeremiah warned the heart hardened people of God about impending punishment. As the calling of Moses, Gideon and Jeremiah were different, so is God calling you for a distinct purpose. But when you do not fully understand the uniqueness of your call, you would end up doing everything. Let the Lord help you understand your call in a personal way and may the truth that maybe like Moses you are called to deliver people from captivity or like Gideon to scatter the enemy or like Jeremiah to protect people from the danger of coming days by exhorting the people, set you free.

Be blessed! Be a blessing.

In the labor of His harvest,

 

D. Augustine Jebakumar

Rev.D.Augustine Jebakumar besides being the Director of GEMS, is an itinerant preacher traveling extensively in India and abroad.