Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!” This episode is about what we would say if God said this to us. It talks about some people who have answered God's call. It talks about how God doesn't call the equipped He equips the called. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Answering The Call
Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
There is a song we sing at church with these words and I just love it. I was just thinking, or I guess wondering what we would say if God asked us this question? I would love to say yes, and I honestly think I would and then I wonder what He might be sending me to go and do. I remember hearing about a woman and her husband who attended a Charismatic Conference in Canada. I think it was in Toronto. There was a huge outpouring of the Holy Spirit at this conference. I am sure I am not going to retell the story perfectly as I heard it several years ago, but I am confident you will get the important parts. The speaker at this conference asked this woman if she would like to be given a nation to spread the word of God and to spread God’s healing. He felt the Holy Spirit was telling Him they had a calling to have a healing ministry in another country. She said yes. She didn’t even hesitate, she jumped all in. The country she was called to minister in was Mozambique, which is located in Southeastern Africa. She felt a calling specifically towards healing the blind and the deaf. Her and her husband answered this call. They moved there and started their ministry.
They moved to Africa faithful to this calling they felt on their life. They moved their with the belief they were going to change people’s lives. Healing people that could not see or hear. They were so excited. Their names were Rolland and Heidi Baker. I will post a link to their website in the show notes as I just read the History of their ministry and it is truly amazing. What I remember from the book I read is that they prayed over every person they saw with vision issues or hearing issues and they didn’t have any results for the first year. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine being faithful in asking people to pray over them day in and day out and not having any healings? I imagine I would have given up. I would hope I would have stuck with it, but I honestly can’t say for sure I would have. It is hard to step out in faith and ask someone if you can pray over them. You are putting yourself in a vulnerable position every time you ask someone. What if they say no? What if they don’t get healed. I admire their courage to continue to follow their calling even in the absence of confirmation. They did eventually get confirmation on their calling. They have seen incredible healings ever since.
I often wonder if I would have the strength to follow a calling like they did. What just came to my mind is that they Holy Spirit knows us. He comes to us and meets us where we are at. When I read the History of this couple, they had been going on missions for years before they moved to Africa. They had already lived in other countries as well. They had been preparing for this assignment for several years, even if they didn’t know that was what they were preparing for. I was going to say God isn’t just going to call someone who has never been overseas to start a ministry overseas. However, He might. He called Moses to speak to Pharoh and to speak to the Israelite people and He didn’t feel comfortable with public speaking at all. He had a stutter and he are argued with God to send someone else. I think God prepares us for our calling. I think He knows what we like and don’t like. I think He may call us out of our comfort zone and challenge us to achieve bigger and greater things in His name. However, He will also give us whatever we need to answer that call.
I read something and I can’t remember where I read it but the author said she always prays for God to give her the strength she needs for whatever he is calling her to do. She said she was nervous because she was asked to go on a mission trip to Africa. She has a weak stomach and was worried she wouldn’t be able to eat the food she was offered. She said she knew it was a sign of disrespect to not eat something if you are offered it and she also knew where she was going they ate some things that aren’t something we would normally eat. She said she just prayed for God to give her the strength to handle any situations she encountered, and He always did.
I remember hearing a phrase at the first retreat I went to for the Military Council of Catholic Women. I had just moved to Germany, I had three little boys ages 1-5 and when the opportunity for a retreat came up, I jumped on it. While I was there I heard this phrase over and over again. “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.” The idea behind this phrase is that all God needs is your yes. All He needs it you to be willing to do something and He will equip you with all you need. I instantly loved this idea. Some ladies didn’t like it. They thought it was absurd to think God didn’t take into account our talents when He was calling us to do something. I was the opposite. I heard this phrase and I felt like a whole new world opened up. I don’t think the phrase means God doesn’t take our talents into account. I think what it means is we don’t have to think we are qualified for the job to say yes.
As I said earlier, God sometimes, often times, calls us out of our comfort zone. We can’t grow when we are in our comfort zone. It isn’t until we push ourselves, we challenge ourselves that we grow. This is true in all areas in our lives. If we always do the same thing, if we always do what we know how to do and never try something new, we may be comfortable, but we will not be growing. This phrase opened a whole new world for me because I feel it gave me permission to say yes to things even when I didn’t feel qualified. It gave me the confidence to step forward in faith to try new things. It gave me the courage to say yes when I might not have said yes before. I have also heard a lot of people say we are born with everything we need to fulfill our calling. It is already inside of us. I think this is 100% true as God made us, He knew us before we were even a thought in our parents mind. I absolutely believe He put everything in us we would need to live out our purpose.
I think these two ideas go together because even though we may have all we need, we don’t always know it. For instance, when God called me to write a book, I had no idea I had that ability. I said yes, because I believe that God doesn’t call the equipped He equips the called. Aso if God calls me to do something, He is not going to leave me alone to do it on my own. He is always with us giving us all we need to answer His call. My hope for you today is that you will answer the call you feel in your heart. We all have a different call. My call for a long time was to be a mom and a wife. Your call does not have to be go out and start a ministry in a new country. God is calling each one of us to more. He is calling us to something and we can only know what that is if we spend time with Him and listen. I know you probably don’t feel ready for what you are being called to do. Nobody does when they first hear the call. God is looking for our trust. He is looking for our yes, even if we are unsure. Even if we don’t understand what He wants and even if we think we are unqualified. He is looking for our yes and then He will provide the rest, I promise. It will not always be easy, but the more we say yes, the more He will show us He is there with us.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to answer your call, please help us. Help us to understand you would never leave us alone and you would never call us to something we couldn’t do. Lord, we ask you help each and every person listening to this episode hear what you are calling them to. No matter how big or how small it is, help them to say yes to this call Lord. Help give us the courage and strength we need. Help us to know it is ok to say yes, even when, especially when, we don’t feel we are qualified. This is an even greater sacrifice because we are relying solely on you and your power to help us answer that call. We love you Lord. You are so incredible. You have helped countless others answer their call. We are so very grateful. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you on Monday. Have a blessed weekend!