“Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.”
Galatians 4:28
A couple months ago, one of my best friends called me up with
some exciting news. She told me that, after years of fasting, praying and
reading her Word, God had finally revealed her calling, the ministry He wanted
her to be apart of. This conversation got me thinking about my own calling.
Almost a year ago, God told me that I would speak to a lost generation. I’ve
always been compelled to write, especially for God’s glory, but I still
couldn’t see it as a ministry. Not when all of my other friends had been called
to things like preaching, singing, and ushering. How could I speak to a lost
generation when the world was slowly doing away with paperback books and the
art of blogging was being run over by sites like Tumblr. This caused me to feel
lost in my writing, like I was too entangled in it to see what God really
wanted me to do with my life, so I took a step back from it. I stopped working
on ideas for my next book and quit updating my blog.
For a couple weeks, I fasted, prayed and read my Word, hoping
to hear something from the Lord. As the weeks went on, I didn’t hear anything
but stayed faithfully involved in the ministries at the church, just in case I
received some type of revelation one day. I continued to sing in the choir, I helped
out in the media room, and I even thought about rejoining the ushering
committee. However, as good as it felt to be apart of those things, they weren’t
fulfilling, and I kept thinking that there was more I could do. Weeks turned in
to months, and last weekend, on the way up to my church’s teen and youth
retreat, I had finally become completely discouraged. My friends were going
around the bus and guessing what ministry everyone would be involved in when
they got older. Some, they thought would be preachers or head ushers, while
others, they thought would be psalmist or choir directors. When they got around
to me, they had nothing. They were stumped and couldn’t think of anything. I
was really upset about the situation. I was involved in so many things at
church and yet, it looked like I showed no promise in either.
When we arrived at the teen and youth retreat location, I
pushed away my hurt and anxiety, telling myself that I wouldn’t worry about it.
This weekend was going to be about breaking chains and saving souls so I vowed
not to let my own problems in the way of what God wanted to do for others on
that mountain. While talking with some of the other counselors we came to the
conclusion that as long we gave God the glory, His promise “All Saved, None
Lost”, the theme for the retreat would come to pass indefinitely. Whole-heartedly
I can say, this retreat was unlike any of the others I had ever attended. When
I say that God showed up and showed out, I truly mean it. I hope and pray that
everyone experiences God’s works the way my peers and I experienced them at
that retreat. While standing in the front of the campground sanctuary, I was
praying for those tarrying around me. I remember meditating on the phrase “All
Saved, None Lost” and, even though I told myself not to, I kept asking myself
how I was going to bring the lost to God if I didn’t have a way to so. Through the dimness of light in the room and
the tears that blurred my vision, I saw a familiar figure and heard an
identifiable voice in my ear. God used one of my good friends, spoke through
them and answered my silent prayer. He
said: “You’re going to lead a lost
generation to Me!” Never having experienced this before, I was stunned and
unable to say anything but in my head I thought “how?”, remembering the
conversation that had taken place on the bus. I began weighing my options:
ushering, singing, preaching, etc. He said, “the reason you can’t figure it out
is because I’ve given you a talent no one else has!” and before I could even
think “what?” He said, “I’ve called you to write! Why are you procrastinating?
I called you to make My Word plain!”
After that, I backed away, trying to figure out what had just
happened. I couldn’t believe and didn’t want to believe that God had a) used someone to prophesy to me and b) had answered my prayer so clearly.
Frankly, I was scared, but before fear could consume me. God used another
person to speak to me. Laying their hand on my shoulder He said, “I know, I
know this is the first time you’re hearing My voice like this. I know you’re
scared, but I’m not trying to scare you. I love you…Remember the promise!” When
I heard that, I would do nothing but fall to my knees in worship and thank God
for everything that had just taken place.
Now, this brings me to the scripture above. It speaks about
God’s promise to us. Isaac was promised a great nation, and so were we. To
begin, God knew us before our parents even conceived us. He spoke us in to
existence, knowing that one day we would answer His call to salvation and have
a desire to serve Him. God has a promise on our lives and our promise affects
others. As a child of God, our first calling is to help find the lost, and to
do that we must use the talents God gave us. He has blessed us all with talents
that He wants us to use in order to bring the unsaved to Him. However, in order
to do that we can no longer hide our talents away, now is the time we must hone
them and multiply them in order to do a great work for the Lord (Reference to
Matthew 25: 14-30).
If God has called you to sing, don’t sell out. If He called
you to preach, preach The Word. If He called you to usher, welcome in the lost
souls. If He called you to write, make it plain. Whatever God called you to do,
do it right and do it now. If you don’t know what God has called you to do yet,
you need to be seeking after Him. He’s called you to do something and when you
show you’re desire to do it, He will reveal it to you. God’s promise to our
generation is “All Saved, None Lost”. I know that God can do everything but
fail so I know His Word is true. We have to do what He is calling us to do,
stand strong in our talents, use them and remember the promise He has put on
our lives in so that we can affect another’s.
#nuffsaid
