Last Lessons #7 – CALLING

For consider your calling, brother: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 1 Corinthians 1:26.

This verse certainly describes me! Not wise, not powerful, not of noble birth, but God still called me. By his grace he called me first for salvation but also for “particular” good works during the different phases of my life (Eph. 2:10). The first particular call I recognized came early in life. I was to be a missionary. My parents were Christians, but they were not missionaries. I didn’t even know any missionaries. Still, here is how God gave me that first call.

When I was 17, I attended a rally for youths in the Presbyterian churches in Jacksonville, Florida where I grew up. The rally was held in an assembly hall of the church hosting the event and they had brought in a missionary from Africa to speak to us. On the last day as all of us young people stood in the hall in a big circle, the missionary asked that those who would be willing to be a “foreign missionary” should step into the circle. I stepped into the circle. I don’t know why. I just knew I had to step in that circle. The missionary prayed for us and I was convinced that God was calling me to be a missionary. I had no idea how, when, or where. But I knew I would become a missionary. And I did.

One lesson I have learned about calling is that it is irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). It’s permanent. Of course, my salvation is permanent, but I also give my life permanently to God for any particular work he wants me to do. I don’t change my mind when things get hard. I also learned that God wanted me to do different things at different stages in my life. There was the stage when I was a missionary because that was God’s particular call for me at that time. However, there was the stage when I was called to lead Bible Study Fellowship, and there was the stage when I was called to start Rafiki, and later I was called to start the Rosemary Jensen Bible Foundation. Those particular calls were to be done on top of being a wife, mother, grandmother (and now a great-grandmother!), employee (or employer), church member, etc. All people, Christian or not, are to do the “ordinary” things that are part of life. But followers of Jesus are called to take up particular crosses and follow him. Taking up a cross means we voluntarily take up a burden that costs us something but brings life to others. We do it for Christ’s sake. It brings glory to him, not us. Our cross will not cost us our lives as it cost him, but it will cost our time, talent, energy, money, or whatever we have that we can give. Big lesson: No matter what the cost, if we have a “particular” calling at a particular time, we will know it. How? God will bring it to us and make it possible for us to do it. But more than anything, we will want to do it, we will love to do it, and we won’t be happy unless we do it.

So, what’s your calling right now?