Answering God's Call

"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work."

~1 Corinthians 12: 4-6

God calls some people when they're young.  God calls some people when they're older.  Sometimes what God has for us to do is clear.  Other times, what God has planned for us is a little murky.  And sometimes God calls you to do one thing for a long, long time and then calls you to do something completely different--something you don't know the first thing about even!

We have to trust in God, and let God lead us to His purpose in our life.  And it's not an easy thing to describe, because God speaks a little differently to each of us.  

When God called me to prepare for a ministry, I was well over 50 years old.  I started taking seminary class with no particular direction in mind.  I just knew God had a plan for me, and I trusted God would show me the plan when I got there. I knew it was my job to be ready when the call came in.

The one thing I'd crossed off my list was pastoring a church.  I knew it was hard.  I didn't want to preach--I had a terrible fear of public speaking.  I wasn't sure I had a "pastoral temperament."  There were so many things I'd have to give up or change.  So of course I was called to be a pastor! I remember looking up and saying heavenward, "you've got to be kidding me?  A pastor?  Me?"  But I'm grateful I listened.  I'm grateful I trusted God's guidance.  It's obviously what God built me to do.  I wouldn't want to do anything else again.

There's one thing I want you to remember.  We're built for a purpose.  And many people never discover that purpose because they aren't looking for it, or they're not paying attention to where God is leading them.  God will call us at any age.  And God will continue to use us throughout our entire lives.  There's no concept of a retired Christian servant in the Bible that I've found!  Don't make the mistake of thinking because you are a certain age that it is time to sit back and let others serve.  There's always a way that God will use our gifts and our abilities. And we deny ourselves the joy of finding new challenges, and new ways God will lead us in serving the Kingdom with the gifts we were provisioned with.  

You'll never know a greater reward in this life than that.

~Pastor Todd Creason