When God Calls: How Will We Answer?

As Christians, the Lord calls us to live our lives honoring him in all that we do. When we hear Him call, it can be exciting and it can also be terrifying. Whether that is to surrender to full-time ministry, go to the mission field, or sacrifice something in our life, we can respond with reluctance. You can read about Moses in Exodus chapters three and four and find a reluctant man wanting to do what God has called him to do. Jeremiah, a prophet of the Lord, was reluctant to do what God was calling him to do.

There are different stories in the Bible that show people answering differently. Jonah, for example, ran away from God when he called them to go preach to Nineveh. Job wanted to take God to court to prove why he did not deserve the treatment he was getting. God told Abraham He would make a nation out of him, yet he took things into his own hands.

Job believed that what happened to him was not right.

Job did not know what was going on, and he did not know how God was working in his life. Job’s friends tried to help. They gave him good and bad advice, and he wanted answers from God. He did not get the answer he was expecting.

God answered Job’s questions by giving Job some questions. God laid it out in Job thirty-eight, but some of those questions were:

Those questions made Job feel insignificant. What Job was expecting was nowhere close to what he got. He did not receive an answer to his questions of God, but he was reminded of who God was.

We do not know what God may be up to, nor may we know His exact plan for our life. What we do know is that the God who sent Jesus to be our perfect sacrifice so we may spend the rest of eternity with Him. We trust in his all-wise, all-knowing, and all-good plan. Whether you are walking through a trial, whether you are wondering if God has called you into ministry, or wondering if He is calling you to something else, you can go back to the Bible and remember who God is and what He said he would do.

We ultimately trust in what God is doing. Romans 8:31 says that if God is for us, who can be against us. What He is calling us to may be uncomfortable for us, but it will make us look more like Jesus.

Philippians 4:6 exhorts the reader to make their requests known to God. God’s ways are different than our ways, but He is for our ultimate good and His glory, and we need to pray continuously that we may know His will.

Knowing who God is will lead to a greater relationship with Him and greater trust to do what He has called us to do. He is righteous, just, merciful, loving, and gracious. His plan is perfect. His will is perfect. He is worthy of our worship, and He wants what is ultimately best for us. Whatever He is calling you to do, trust that it will make you look more like Jesus.