Friday, August 12, 2011

The Call

Mark 10:49
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."
So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you."

One of my favorite films from the '90s was Sister Act. I loved the scene where Sister Mary Clarence (Whoopi Goldberg) is seated at a table, laboriously stringing beads with some of the nuns, when Sister Mary Robert asks her in all naivete, "Sister Mary Clarence, when did you get the call?"

"The call???" She responds, momentarily taken aback by this out-of-the-blue question; then, in the miraculous flash of a split second, her Catholic upbringing hits home.

"The call! The call! I didn't know which call you meant! I was working . . . I was working in Reno, and I got the call. And you don't know how hard it is to get a call until you've worked in Reno."

While most of us associate getting "the call" with ministry within the church, nothing could be farther from the truth. We are all called in one way or another to live out and to life fully into the gifts and talents with which the Lord has blessed us. I taught school for years and I truly enjoyed it, but there was always a nagging sense of something missing, something else I should be doing with my life. It finally dawned on me that God was calling me to write, but I ignored it, kept shoving it aside, arguing with Him that I didn't have time right now; I was too consumed with my job in "Reno" to heed His prodding. Despite all my protests and remonstrations, however, the Lord persevered and, at long last, won out and won me over. I write full-time now, and nothing in this world compares to the bliss and satisfaction I encounter each day in doing so.

How about you? Are you feeling restless or frustrated with what you are presently doing? Does there seem to be a piece missing in your life that you can't quite put your finger on? Chances are God is calling you to fill that niche He has designed just for you. Listen closely and carefully to what He desires for you and your life. Don't keep spinning your wheels in "Reno"; hear the call. Answer and obey.

Readings
Psalms 102 or 107:1-32
2 Samuel 15:19-37
Acts 21:37-22:16
Mark 10:46-52

1 comment:

  1. interesting. i wonder when i "got the call"? i don't think it's a one time thing. it's an ongoing thing. god calls me for this one day. then he calls me for that another day.

    ReplyDelete

. . . Good Tidings of Great Joy . . .

  . . . Good tidings of great joy . . . ~Luke 2:10 Pictured above are my daughter, Sarah, son-in-law, John, and their three girls, Virginia,...