When Moses was in Egypt, he ran away to the land of Midian to avoid being charged with murder in Pharaoh’s court. He had a calling on his life to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, but he went the other way. Moses spent forty years in the land of Midian, when his calling was in Egypt. God had to put the exodus on hold, while He waited for Moses to be ready to fulfill his calling.
When God told Jonah to go warn Ninevah, Jonah caught a ship headed to Tarshish. Tarshish was about as far from Ninevah as there was in the known world at the time. God arranged for a whale to swallow Jonah, to bring Jonah to the understanding that he needed to fulfill his calling, and, eventually, Jonah went to Ninevah. God waited until after Jonah had preached to Ninevah before pronouncing His final judgment. In fact, God spared Ninevah because the people repented at Jonah’s preaching.
There is a story, I don’t know for sure if it is true, but the story is that a Christian man was in a restaurant, and felt it laid upon his heart to share about a hope in Christ with the waiter. He understandably (I say understandably—some of you may not understand, and that’s actually a good thing if you don’t. I won’t pretend that I don’t understand) felt awkward about doing it, so each time the waiter came by his table, he made an excuse to himself. Each time, God dealt with him a little stronger. Finally he couldn’t stand it any more, and he promised God that the next time the waiter came by, he would talk to him. The waiter didn’t come by for a very long time. The man finished his meal, and was waiting for the check. And waiting, and waiting. Finally the manager came by, asked if he enjoyed his meal, asked if he wanted anything else, and gave him his check. “Wait,” he asked, “what happened to the waiter?” The manager gave him an awkward look, and then, lowering his voice, said, “I don’t quite now how to tell you this, but, about fifteen minutes ago, he went out into the alley and, well, he took his own life.”
Moses ran from his calling, but God didn’t take his calling from him, He just delayed it for a time. Jonah ran from his calling, but God gave him another chance. Sometimes I think God gets tired of people running away, though. Just because God chose to use Moses and Jonah in spite of themselves, doesn’t mean that He promises to be so patient with any of us. Did you know that you can run from your calling without taking a single step? You can hide from your calling in your routine, or in your attitude. Your calling isn’t necessarily to go be missionary in some dark jungle somewhere; it’s more likely to be just to share with people that you work with or go to school with that don’t know Jesus. It may very well be that the biggest difference between what you’re doing now and what you should be doing is just the words that come out of your mouth. The Bible says that from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. If you truly love God, that’s going to be in your conversation, not just your words, but the way that you live your life. People should be able to see in you a heart for ministry, even before you open your mouth, but when you open your mouth, it should confirm what they already observed. Not fulfilling your calling, though, can have dire consequences, not just for you, but for those around you, also.
When God told Jonah to go warn Ninevah, Jonah caught a ship headed to Tarshish. Tarshish was about as far from Ninevah as there was in the known world at the time. God arranged for a whale to swallow Jonah, to bring Jonah to the understanding that he needed to fulfill his calling, and, eventually, Jonah went to Ninevah. God waited until after Jonah had preached to Ninevah before pronouncing His final judgment. In fact, God spared Ninevah because the people repented at Jonah’s preaching.
There is a story, I don’t know for sure if it is true, but the story is that a Christian man was in a restaurant, and felt it laid upon his heart to share about a hope in Christ with the waiter. He understandably (I say understandably—some of you may not understand, and that’s actually a good thing if you don’t. I won’t pretend that I don’t understand) felt awkward about doing it, so each time the waiter came by his table, he made an excuse to himself. Each time, God dealt with him a little stronger. Finally he couldn’t stand it any more, and he promised God that the next time the waiter came by, he would talk to him. The waiter didn’t come by for a very long time. The man finished his meal, and was waiting for the check. And waiting, and waiting. Finally the manager came by, asked if he enjoyed his meal, asked if he wanted anything else, and gave him his check. “Wait,” he asked, “what happened to the waiter?” The manager gave him an awkward look, and then, lowering his voice, said, “I don’t quite now how to tell you this, but, about fifteen minutes ago, he went out into the alley and, well, he took his own life.”
Moses ran from his calling, but God didn’t take his calling from him, He just delayed it for a time. Jonah ran from his calling, but God gave him another chance. Sometimes I think God gets tired of people running away, though. Just because God chose to use Moses and Jonah in spite of themselves, doesn’t mean that He promises to be so patient with any of us. Did you know that you can run from your calling without taking a single step? You can hide from your calling in your routine, or in your attitude. Your calling isn’t necessarily to go be missionary in some dark jungle somewhere; it’s more likely to be just to share with people that you work with or go to school with that don’t know Jesus. It may very well be that the biggest difference between what you’re doing now and what you should be doing is just the words that come out of your mouth. The Bible says that from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. If you truly love God, that’s going to be in your conversation, not just your words, but the way that you live your life. People should be able to see in you a heart for ministry, even before you open your mouth, but when you open your mouth, it should confirm what they already observed. Not fulfilling your calling, though, can have dire consequences, not just for you, but for those around you, also.
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