Call Waiting

To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

Have you ever called someone and forgotten the reason you called?  The Thessalonian church was called by God to manifest the witness of Jesus in a dark pagan environment. I wonder how many were hesitant to pursue this call. It seems that there must have been some…at least Paul is exhorting them in it. Like the church in Thessalonica, we are called to no small task in our culture today. Though the culture and our place in history is quite different, God hasn’t changed and the nature of humanity is still the same. We are surrounded by dark and pagan influences as well. So what is it about me that God would count me worthy of my calling? Not my ability…not my success…nor anything that puts me on display. God will count me worthy of my calling when I am obedient to pursue His call. When I grumble about how hard the call is to answer or reduce the call of God to a formulaic theory, I have moved out of the arena of faith in God into a human performance mode. If the call of God can be done without His power, without faith in His ability, when my strength is enough, there will only be done what a man can do. If a man can do the work of God then God would not call us to the task. But when I am dependent upon God and know my power is insufficient for the call, He builds my faith and grants me His power. God will count me worthy of my calling when I realize the purpose in my call is to see the name of the Lord Jesus glorified in me…what makes me worthy is that I wear His name faithfully, trusting God for His continuous grace. When I desire to be what God calls me to be and love doing His good work, God is pleased and counts me worthy of the call. In our day, and I suspect every age, some will claim they are not ready to answer God’s call…they aren’t worthy. And in one sense they are right. We aren’t worthy from our perspective…but God calls us anyway...He hasn't made a mistake like when we do calling the wrong number...He hasn't misdialed!  When folks say they are waiting for God to make them ready that says more about them than it says about God. Imagine how the Lord will build their faith…if they’ll only answer the call…Imagine how ready they'll be if they'll only place their faith in Him. If you hear the call of God to follow Him, to worship Him, to make disciples, to speak or say specific words, to live the life of Christ in you all around you, answer that call. A church elder I know used to have a voice mail message that said...I'm sorry I missed that call...Don't let your voice say, I'm sorry I missed that call.  He’s waiting to count us worthy of the call.  God doesn't waste His time on us.  He hasn't forgotten what He's calling us about.  Our blessing...but mostly His glory.  While busy with our everyday conversations and business, the Lord is beeping in, so to speak, calling you in the middle of your life...call waiting...imagine that.  Answer His call!  The Lord doesn't stay on hold very long.