Accepting that You may have to Wait to Fulfill your Calling

Verses:  Matthew 2:13-15

My thoughts about the verses:

We all believe that we are to immediately follow the calling that is placed on our heart.  Yet, there are times in our life that we have to stop and listen to God.  Our mission may be laying on our heart yet, it might not be the time to do what God wants us to accomplish.

Many times we are not at the place that we need to be to accomplish the ministry that God wants.  God will lead us to where we need to do our ministry.  It is hard for all of us to accept this in our life.  Yet, listen to the words that are written in this scripture.  Jesus was sent to Egypt so that he could come back to start his ministry.  If God can lead Jesus to a safe place to serve the Holy One we have to accept that this may be what God is doing for us.

I can remember that when I was younger I had this deep feeling in my soul that God wanted me to share the Gospel.  I had a very limited group of people that I could reach because of where I was at that time and place.  I couldn’t share the ministry God had for me because of the restrictions placed on me by the church I was going to. 

I was in my mid-teens when I started working with young people.  I believed that God was utilizing my calling by me sharing the word of God with children that had not had the word.  Creating a safe and healthy environment was what I felt that is what God wanted.  God did bless the ministry and there were so many young life’s that learned to have hope even when they were facing a very poor life at home.

Then the day came that I was excluded from where I was serving.  Imagine serving God but because of your love life you no longer can follow your calling.  I was there in my early twenties.  It was out I was a homosexual and I could no longer be “trusted” around the children because the church felt that I would teach them homosexuality was not a sin.

I felt lost and abandoned.  Yet, reading these scriptures I now realize that God had sent me to my own Egypt.  I was in a new place where I could grow stronger.  I had to find peace with what was happening in my life.  I had to go to my Egypt so that I could find a safe place to worship God. 

It was in my late twenties that my life changed again.  God called me out of my Egypt and brought me to a new Denomination where I could teach love.  I spent my thirty and early forties sharing the Good News to a group of people that the “Church” had turned against.  I believe that God called me to this new destiny.  People in my community needed to know that they were loved. 

Yet, again I was called to come back to my Egypt.  It was the hardest thing I had to do to go back to the land that was far away from my ministry.  I realized after a few months that God had called me to a ministry that would reach the world.  It wasn’t that I went to my Egypt to regain my voice.  I was given a short rest to regain my inner peace.  I went to my Egypt so that I could regain the peace that God had always given me in my stillness.

When I returned from my Egypt I realized that my ministry was writing this blog.  Yes, there are days that I am too sick to write.  Yes, there are days that I struggle with the lessons God is trying to teach me.  Yet, this time when I came out of the stillness I felt the peace that I had needed for so long.  Writing this blog has given me a voice that has touched so many.  It has spread my community from a small group of people to individuals around the world. 

Now what lesson can you take from this?  If you are a Christian you have to realize that you may have times of rest.  There may be times that there may be times that you are called to be still to regain peace and strength.  If you listen closely to God you will see that there may be greater things that God is calling you to do.  You may need to be in the stillness of your Egypt to grow and understand the calling that God wants in your life.  Do not be afraid when you feel that your ministry is changing.  You need to know that God is leading you to a new land in which the souls of others need to be touched by the words and deeds of your life.

Prayer:

We praise you God.  We thank you for teaching us to listen to the ministry you have placed in our hearts.  We thank you for the times that you lead us to our Egypt so that we can grow closer to you.  Help us to remember that you will lead us to the fertile ground that people will need to hear your story.  In the name of the Peacemaker we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you asked God into your life?  Have you accepted the ministry that God has placed in your heart?  Has God led you to your Egypt?  Are you taking the time to grow stronger?  Are you ready to go to a new fertile land when God calls you?