Our Calling

The Sovereign Lord has taught me what to say, so that I can strengthen the weary.  Every morning he makes me eager to hear what he is going to teach me.  (Isaiah 50:4 GNT)

I believe that once we become Christians we will have several – maybe even many – callings on our lives that God would like us to fulfill.  But in the particular verse I quoted above, it seems that it is calling us to be teachable – and to be eager for that teaching; then, with God’s help, we will be equipped to help others.

Each morning after I get up and around for 10-15 minutes, I take my cup of coffee and sit down to spend some time in the presence of God.  Most days I would say that I do actually feel eager to start that time, hoping to hear from God.  He sometimes speaks to me through the devotional I read, sometimes it is through His Word and other times it is a still small voice – a prompting – as I am praying for others.

This time is generally when I get inspired to write something for this blog.  But, I also am part of a program at my church that was developed for women to mentor another woman that needs spiritual strengthening in some area of her life.  My time spent with God has given me valuable guidance to encourage the women I have mentored so far.  There were times that it was nothing more than a single word.  I would write that down then do some research on particular scripture passages that had that word in it.  Sometimes I had no clue what the inspiration I got would mean to her, but when I obeyed the leading and shared it with them, it would hit on something they needed to hear.

Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet of God, spoke a lot of judgment over the people, but he also spoke words of mercy.  The people that heard him speak of judgment over other nations loved to hear his words; but, when those words of judgment were spoken about them, they were not happy or very receptive.  “He represented a holy God to an unrighteous people.” *

“So do we.  Our calling is strikingly similar to Isaiah’s.  We may not be assigned the task of foretelling judgment with the specifics Isaiah saw.  But we are assigned to live purely, speak truthfully, and witness to both the holiness and the mercy of our God.  Sometimes the message is popular.  More often, it is not.  Our calling, like Isaiah’s, often goes against our culture and challenges our courage.  It sets us up for total dependence on our Creator.” *

Isaiah obviously heard the Word of God and did not seem to hesitate to speak it out boldly.  We should be willing to do the same – with conviction, not with fear.  Having a teachable spirit should give us the confidence to share what He speaks to us when we are led to do so.  Just as the words I shared with the ladies I mentored spoke to their spirits, I should be confident that the words I share with others will produce the desired results.

It is not always an easy thing to do.  But, the more time we spend with God sincerely desiring to be an instrument for Him, the easier it becomes to discern when He is speaking to you.  Then it becomes easier to speak to others with conviction and confidence, the words you heard from Him. 

I believe the key is that we must be teachable.  It becomes the door that allows us to meet with God on an intimate level so that He can and will speak to us and we in turn will hear, understand and believe.  You can never know when the perfect word from you, spoken to a specific person at the perfect time will be life-changing.  

The amount of time it takes to form a habit – whether that be a good habit or a bad habit – is debatable.  I had always heard that it takes 3 weeks repeatedly doing something daily to establish a habit, but I have since read that the time can be shorter or much longer.  Could that be determined by how teachable a person is?  I am thinking that is a possibility.

So, this is what I would challenge you to do.  If you do not have a period of time each day that you devote to God – reading and praying – determine to do that.  Do not allow anything to prevent you from doing it.  If you have to alter the particular time that is okay – just do not justify skipping it altogether.  Start off your time thinking about all you have to be thankful for and voicing that appreciation to God.  Then ask Him to open your eyes to see and your ears to hear spiritually so that you will be teachable.  If you read something that seems to jump out at you, write it down in detail so that you can later focus on it – maybe do more research on the meaning, etc.    

As you develop this wonderful habit, count on being able to “strengthen the weary.”

Written by Karran Martin – December 3, 2022

*Quotes from Chris Tiegreen