We Are All Called

08 Feb We Are All Called

Life can be tough. It is full of ups and downs, turns, and stops that require both feet on the brake pedal mashed to the floor. It is full of struggles and blessings.  It is beautiful and full of promise. One of the things I struggled with early in my walk with Christ was my calling.  It seemed like whenever I felt called to something by God, an obstacle was put in my way.  Sometimes it wasn’t even an obstacle, it was something wonderful, but very distracting. But, isn’t that always how it works?  At one point I was involved in too many things- a bible study, a mom’s group, college, leading a bible study, being a mom, a wife, and being a pastor’s wife.  I knew all the things I was doing were good, but there were far too many of them being crammed in my life.  I couldn’t devote the time or energy needed for them to all be done well.  I was stretched so thin and the people I loved most were getting the brunt of it.  Because goodness, no one can see the pastor’s wife or bible study leader lose it!

I begin to pray in earnest for God to show me what HE wanted me to do, to reveal how HE was calling me to serve him.  During this time, our church volunteered at a conference to help out with registration, set up, and whatever else was needed.  The conference was called “No Child Waiting” and was intended to highlight children in Arizona who were currently in the foster care system and legally free to be adopted. As volunteers, we could attend the conference after registration and sign in were completed.  So, Steve and I went into the auditorium and listened to many speakers focused on the epidemic of children in care and the amount of children who were waiting for families in group homes. Steve and I had prayed for years about adopting a child.  For years. Five years to be exact. There was a specific moment during the conference when a young adult was speaking about her experience in foster care and how finally, after years of being shuffled around, a family took her in, loved her, and adopted her.  As she was talking, I felt God speaking to my heart, urging me that this was His plan.  I remember looking at Steve and telling him, “We have to stop praying about it and DO something.”  He agreed and we went and signed up with a foster care agency that day!

One of the things I have been reminded of is how we can use prayer as an excuse. Now, wait a minute, don’t go all crazy on me.  Prayer is a wonderful thing.  We should all pray.  We should all pray more than we think we should!  But, when we find opportunities in front of us to serve and we don’t because we have to stop and pray about them when God has already said in the Bible to do it we are using prayer as an excuse.  Take these verses for instance,

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.  My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make out home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.  These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”  –John 14:23-24 NIV

“Religion that God our Father accept as pure and faultless is this: to look after the widow and the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” –James 1:27 NIV

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation.”  –Mark 16:15

So you ask, Alissa are you telling me not to pray?  Absolutely not.  Pray every day.  But, pray while you are doing the things He already asked you to do.  Pray about the calling He has for you. When He puts an opportunity in front of you, take it and serve!  God does not call all of us to be missionaries in a different country and He doesn’t call us all to be foster parents.  BUT, He does call us to witness and to serve the less fortunate. You can do those things easily.  Many of you reading this post have already come to Honduras on mission trips or currently sponsor one of our Sparrows.  Perhaps you are a monthly supporter of a missionary too.  These are some ways you can follow and serve Christ.  Here are some more –find a soup kitchen to serve in, take a homeless person lunch and eat with them, listen to their story. Take a dinner to a foster family, offer clothes or toys your children have outgrown to a local Department of Child Safety, or find a foster family to bless them with.  Visit nursing homes and read books to the patients who can’t read.

There are so many ways to serve.  We are all called. Find the passion for serving that God has put in your heart…. And then DO it!

God Bless each of you!  Alissa