by Alan Langstaff

One of the keys to the meaning of life is to discover what God has called you to be. Every one was born with a purpose in life. For a Christian this is what is described as a calling – i.e. what has God called you to be.

In the Bible we find many stories of people who were called by God for a specific assignment. Many times these people are not in the natural, special people with special gifts. But rather God delights in using ordinary people to do extraordinary things. You could be one such person. For you see God gives gifts, abilities to people to enable them both in the natural world as well as in the spiritual realm to accomplish His purposes.

Let me give you some examples of how this happens.

ANTONIO STRADIVARI – A NATURAL EXAMPLE

This is the story of how trash was turned into treasure. It appears in a daily devotional written by Bob Gass.

“A Christian leader writes: “The Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari was a poor man. And yet his violins are now the most prized violins ever made because of the rich and resonant sound they produce. The unique sound of a Stradivarius cannot be duplicated. What may surprise you is that these precious instruments were not made from treasured pieces of wood; they were carved from discarded lumber. Because Stradivari couldn’t afford fine materials, he got most of his wood from the dirty harbors where he lived. He would take those waterlogged pieces of wood to his shop, clean them up, and dry them out. Then, from those trashed pieces of lumber, he would create instruments of rare beauty. It has since been discovered that while the wood floated in those dirty harbors, microbes infiltrated the wood and ate out the centers of those cells. This left just a fibrous infrastructure of wood that created resonating chambers for the music. From wood that nobody wanted, Stradivari produced violins that now everybody wants.” You say, “How does any of this relate to me?” Just as this violin maker transformed garbage into treasure, God can transform you into what you were actually meant to be. You say, “But you don’t know how low I have fallen or the things I’ve done. I doubt that Jesus could save and transform someone like me!” Give Him a try. Put Him to the test. You won’t be disappointed. The Bible says, “He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him.”

So too can God take hold of our lives, clean us up, and use the gifts and calling He has given us and produce something special.

GIDEON – A BIBLICAL EXAMPLE

There was a time when the Midianites would come into Israel and take their harvest and produce. As a result they were greatly impoverished. Actually God was using this to discipline His people who had not obeyed His voice. So, the children of Israel cried out to God. Now God’s answer was a man… a man to be their leader and deliverer by the grace of God.

So God sent an angel to a man called Gideon. The angel said to Gideon “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 6:12, NKJV) The angel was pointing to Gideon’s potential as a mighty deliverer through the Lord’s enabling power.

Gideon is not initially able to accept all this and even feels the Lord has forsaken Israel and delivered them into the hands of their enemies and the Lord replies “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites” finishing up with the word of his calling, “Have I not sent you?” (Judges 6:14, NKJV) Gideon’s response is to point out he is a nobody, he claims he is the “least in my father’s house” (v.15).

But the Lord had the last word, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” (v.16)

Notice – the promise from God that He will be with him. Also note that God said “as one man.” All great works start with “one man” who usually builds a team to work with him.

Gideon is still not fully convinced so he eventually proposes two fleeces that convinces him God can do it through him.

Well the rest of the story describes how Gideon won the battle over the Midianites, driving them back to their own country. Indeed the Lord’s word to Gideon came about as he responded to God’s call.

God used one man – Gideon to be the deliverer of Israel and He can use one man or woman again today.

ROBERT RAIKES – A SPIRITUAL EXAMPLE

Another person that God raised up was a man by the name of Robert Raikes. You may not have heard of his name but if you went to Sunday school (or whatever it is called today) you owe a debt to God for this man.

John Ortberg writes: “In 1780 a Jesus-follower in Great Britain named Robert Raikes could not stand the cycle of poverty and ignorance that was destroying little children, a whole generation. He said, ‘The world marches forward on the feet of little children.’ So he took children who had to work six days a week in squalor. Sunday was their free day. He said, “I’m going to start a school for free to teach them to read and write and learn about God.’ He did, and he called it Sunday school. Within fifty years, there were 1.5 million children being taught by 160,000 volunteer teachers who had a vision for the education of a generation. Sunday school was not a privatized, optional program for church kids. It was one of the great educational volunteer triumphs of the world.”

God can use a man or a woman if they will respond to the call.

Now, we may not be a maker of violins, like Stradivari, or a Biblical hero, like Gideon, or a pioneer like Robert Raikes; but we all have something that God has called us to be. Here are some keys to finding our calling.

  1. Recognize that God has given us gifts and a calling that are there to enable us to fulfill our purpose in life.
  2. Look for and listen for God’s voice telling you what that calling is and thus know what it is that God has created us for.
  3. Respond to the call of God on your life. Sometimes this comes in a dramatic moment. Sometimes it comes gradually but be sure if you seek you will find.
  4. Realize that when it comes to fulfilling God’s call it is making ourselves available. Start in your local church and ask is there something there that God would want me to do. You will be surprised what the answer might be.
  5. Be humble and be prepared to start in a small way and even a humble way. Everyone starts at the bottom and as we are faithful God will give us more responsibility.
  6. Discover what’s special about you.

“A fascinating study was done on divergent thinking – which is thinking outside the box. The results? Ninety-eight percent of children between three and five years old scored in the genius category for divergent thinking. Between eight and ten, that number dropped to 32 percent. By the time they became teenagers, it dropped down to 10 percent. And of those over twenty-five, only 2 percent scored in the genius category for divergent thinking. That means the older you get, the greater your tendency will become to resist change. It also means you may fail to discover your God-given assignment in life and develop the skills necessary to fulfill it. The Bible says, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function…God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well” (Ro 12:4, 6 NLT). God’s plan for your life involves finding out what makes you different and discovering those things you do well. Too many individuals in too many churches look and act too much alike. Pastors can create this. Peer pressure can create this. If anyplace should celebrate diversity, it’s the church. There never has been, and there never will be, a person like you. And that isn’t a tribute to you; it’s a tribute to the God who created and redeemed you to fulfill His purposes. And that calls for discovering who you are, and who you’re not. Think about it: Wouldn’t you rather be disliked for who you are than liked for who you’re not? So, discover what makes you special.” (from a Bob Gass devotional)

Let me finish with a story involving one man, David Livingstone, who God used so greatly as a missionary leader in Africa.

In 1857 David Livingstone gave this speech in Cambridge University: “People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa…Away with the word in such a view and with such thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now and then with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.” When you serve the Lord, you always get back more than you give up. And if you get back more than you give up, have you really sacrificed anything at all? “Then Peter began to say to Him, ‘See, we have left all and followed You.’ So Jesus answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time – houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions – and in the age to come, eternal life’” (Mk 10:28-30 NKJV). The only regrets you will have at the end of your life will be that you didn’t seek and serve God more and seek and serve Him sooner.

God is still a God who calls people to undertake specific tasks. That will also enable the church to fulfill the church’s call as well.