Don't be fish vomit (Jonah 2:10)
Last night, I had the privilege of attending the ordination services for my friend, Dava Hensley. Sister Dava has an interesting story of coming back into relationship with Jesus Christ, and then responding to the call to be pastor of First Church of the Brethren in Roanoke.
How many of us would move from the town we've lived our entire lives and move several hours away? (When you're just out of school, maybe. But when you're in your 50's?) How many of us would take a 50% reduction in pay because we were convinced it was God's plan for our life?
Sister Dava did both of these things, and last night I had the chance to worship with her congregation and pray for her as she is ordained to the ministry.
God is good to us, indeed. But that doesn't mean that God will always ask us to do things that are easy or things we are comfortable with. We can trust, that in the midst of God's call, God's goodness will be experienced in ways we could never imagine. But we must go with God.
Beginning this Wednesday evening at 6:30, our congregation will study the Old Testament book of Jonah. It is a marvelous---and challenging---story of how God calls unlikely people to do important things.
Is God calling you? Have you responded?
As Pastor Tim may already know, God's calling is a subject near and dear to my heart. Having devoted a certain amount of study to it, and beginning with Henry Blackaby's, "Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing God's Will", I tend to identify a little too readily with Jonah's reluctance to exercise 'faith' and 'obedience' when presented with opportunities to serve.
ReplyDeleteCan I get an 'amen' . . . ?