Part III

This final article on the call of God in our lives will deal with how to turn the changing face of call in our lives into a transition of purpose in God’s will.

To understand call means to understand who we are and God’s purpose in our lives in the world. It means recognizing there are many variables playing upon our lives and affecting our opportunities for ministry.

The really great truth is that God is a God of redefinition. He takes those variables when we submit our will to Him, and He rules and overrules in them, and calls us in to greater meaning in ministry.

As a great hymn of the church says:

A simple poem entitled I Will My Will, also illustrates how call works in our lives:

And yet another hymn by F.W. Faber, I Worship Thee Sweet Will of God, makes clear the purpose of call in our lives:

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If you believe that God has given you a call and a vision, hold onto your visions and dreams, but hold onto them lightly. Our visions are not always God’s best provision for us. My dad called me to the pastorate, and I was an obedient son. I went for awhile, but God had a better plan for me. He called me to the ministries of helps.

If I had not honored my father and gone when I did, I would have never realized the need of smaller independent ministries, nor been enabled to later serve them. “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

Always submit your godly visions and dreams to God’s better plan. Moses planned his way to the Promise land, but God directed his steps through the desert and to the mountain top. David planned to build God a house, but God directed his steps to gather materials in order that his son could build it. Saul planned to go to Damascus to persecute and kill the members of a new radical religious cult, but God directed his steps and called, “the architect of the Christian faith.”

Hold onto your godly visions and dreams. Never let anyone or anything steal them from you. But hold onto them gently, and always in submission, to the creative power of the Holy Spirit to will and to do His good pleasure in you.

Dr. Jonas Salk (who discovered the polio vaccine that saved millions of lives from death and destruction) writes, “It was because I was denied my desire to pursue studies on rheumatic diseases during an elective period in medical school that I found myself in a laboratory concerned with studies on influenza. Ultimately, this opportunity which was not my first choice proved to be an even greater good fortune, because it broadened my experiences so that I would be able to direct my career and assume the responsibility to meet the needs of my time.”

Turning away from one closed door and walking through another open one, Jonas discovered the vaccine that freed the world from the threat of a polio epidemic.

In closing, I am reminded of the words of the prophet in Jeremiah 29:11, 12:

Reconsider the nature and purpose of God’s call in your life. Recognize there are stages in your present season of call. Be open to the changing face of call as circumstances and environments change around you—God just may have a better idea.
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