To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power (2 Thessalonians 1:11, ESV).
Our calling is a narrow path of blessing from which we often wander. Our wandering, and sometimes resistance to God’s calling, has a simple reason – God is holy, and we are not.
His holy ways are beyond our comprehension.
At first, His calling may seem ridiculous, and we might refuse, resist, or even run. But God is patient, allowing the results of our bad decisions to accumulate into a conviction that brings repentance.
Are we resisting God’s calling? Below are two Bible stories of God’s calling.
Moses refused his calling from bitterness, hurt, and indifference!
But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13).
God called to Moses from a burning bush.
Moses asked God to send someone else. I think we all wish for a “burning bush” experience with God, and if we had one, we might think it would be easy to say, “Here I am, Lord, send me!”
But Moses had some emotional baggage.
Forty years earlier, he felt called by God to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian bondage and, in his zeal, killed an Egyptian. He then had to escape from Egypt, fleeing into the wilderness, where he became a shepherd for 40 years.
He had tried and failed – in his own strength – to follow God! And he was angry or didn’t care anymore.
Now when God called, Moses resisted!
I believe he was thinking, “Yep, the burning bush is impressive, God, but I tried being a leader once and failed miserably. I’m comfortable now, just leave me alone and send my brother Aaron instead.”
God didn’t leave Moses alone, and He won’t leave us alone, either.
Jonah fled from fear of his calling!
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1:1-3).
Scripture doesn’t tell us whether God used a burning bush, a bright light, or a dream to speak, but Jonah had no doubt that God was calling.
His response? He fled!
Instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah ran in the other direction toward the seaport of Joppa on the Mediterranean.
What would we have done? Let’s put this into context and consider God appearing to us tonight in a dream …
_______________ (your name), I want you to get up in the morning and drive to New York City. I want you to park in Brooklyn and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge all the way to Times Square, shouting the entire time, “Repent or the fire of God will fall upon this city in 40 days.”
God’s calling was impossible and unreasonable – at least to Jonah.
God, however, still asks us to do the impossible today. We might flee and buy a plane ticket to San Francisco instead.
Please don’t.
I’m not sure what will happen to the plane. Perhaps an emergency landing with us dragged from the plane by Federal Marshals. And believe me, New York is a better place to visit than San Francisco anyway.
Are we resisting or fleeing from God?
Yesterday in Interruption #873, I promised that I would give you steps to finding God’s calling. I was interrupted in my thinking and diverted to stories about Moses and Jonah.
I repent. Tomorrow in Interruption #875, I promise that I will give you the steps. But please don’t make a wager about it on DraftKings.