One of the most interesting callings from God in the Bible is that of Samuel. As a boy, he heard a voice calling to him, arousing him from his sleep. Rising from his bed, he went to Eli’s room, and asked if the elderly priest had called him. Assured that he must have been dreaming, Samuel went back to bed.
Once again, he was stirred from sleep by a person clearly calling his name. And once again he went to Eli, this time certain that he had been summoned. Again, Eli assured his young ward that Eli had not called him.
A third time it happened. Eli was a man who had made mistakes in life, particularly when it came to raising his sons, but he was also a man who was in tune with God. Realizing that Samuel really was hearing someone call him, the priest told the boy to go back to bed, and when he heard the voice call to him again, he was to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9).
The Bible says the Lord came down and stood there, calling to Samuel. This time, Samuel answered as Eli had instructed him to do, and thus began a remarkable ministry that led Israel through the transition of a fragile, loose confederation of tribes into a kingdom on the verge of greatness.
Reading the stories of the Old Testament, it’s easy to think that God speaks clearly and distinctly to those He calls. But experience teaches us that a clearly audible voice from God is not the norm. Instead, we find ourselves listening for the still small voice, hoping that we are correct in our understanding, and walking by faith, often a blind faith.
How can we know that God is really calling us, and how can we know that we are doing what He calls us to do?
A Personal Testimony
I was 19 years old, in my first year of college. A relatively new believer of three years, I had found a fellowship of like believers at the local Baptist Student Union (nowadays called the Baptist Student Ministry). A position had been made for me to serve on the Executive Council and I was becoming actively involved in the ministry of the BSU.
One of my duties as an Executive Council member was to meet with the BSU director weekly to go over responsibilities and have a spiritual update with the director. Shortly after one of those sessions, I began to envision myself doing things as a pastor. I saw myself doing mundane things, but as a pastor of a church.
When the next meeting with the director came around, I jokingly asked if there was a way I could talk God into calling me into the ministry. Instead of laughing with me at my joke, he asked me why I wanted to know and what was going through my head. As we met, I began to see that maybe I wasn’t the initiator of my crazy ideas; maybe it was God working in me to prepare me for His calling.
My director told me two things that still stand out. First, he said to try to find anything else I would want to do besides being a minister. If there was something else out there that would hold my interest, I should pursue it. The director’s reasoning was that my daydreams of being a minister may just be that, and that an earnest pursuit of another career would open my eyes to that possibility instead. If it was God leading me, there would be nothing else that I would want to do.
The second thing he told me was to make a list. He drew up a couple of columns on a sheet of paper. He headed the paper, “Pros and cons of full-time ministry,” and beneath the heading he made the columns. One of the columns would be the benefits of ministry, and the other the negatives of ministry.
I took the sheet of paper home, and kept it in my Bible. It took another week or so, but I found myself in my room truly struggling with the question of whether I was being called to the ministry or not. Nothing else had captured my fancy, at least career-wise, and on that particular night, I knew I had to reach a decision.
I prayerfully removed the list from my Bible, and I asked God to show me what I needed to know. I began making the two lists, one under the pros and the other under the cons. In a short while, I had ten items on the pro side, and five on the con side.
Knowing that I was predisposed to the ministry, I asked God to show me more of the cons in ministry. I figured if He could give me three to five more cons, the list would be even and I would know that God was not calling me to full-time ministry.
I sat on the floor of my room, and I waited to hear God’s voice. And I began to write some more items on the column. By the end of that time, I had added five more items, but to the pro side. What had once been a 2-to-1 advantage of pros to cons had now grown to a 3-to-1 advantage. There on my floor, with my dog at my side, I told God I would follow Him as a minister. I then went in and told my parents what I had just decided. They were supportive, but not overly excited about it.
The next day, at the BSU, I found the director and told him what had happened. After more counsel from him, I then made my decision known to my local church at the end of the Sunday evening service.
My BSU director’s wise counsel and my prayerful night of the list had led me to the conclusion that I was doing what God called me to do.
Oddly enough, a few months later, I was talking with a friend about my decision. My friend told me that she had mentioned my “surrendering to the call” to her sister, who was married to a pastor. I had never met this sister, or if I had, it had been one of those exchanging of names and then never see each other again events. My friend told me that her sister’s response to my calling was that she wasn’t surprised, that she had always known I would go that route.
I have pursued this calling for the last 40+ years. I have had a lot of growing and learning to do. I have made mistakes and found myself not where God wanted me. I have had to backtrack and change directions, but looking back, I know I am where God wants me.
How Can You Know?
Not everyone has the same experience when it comes to hearing and responding to God’s call. Not everyone is called to serve in a professional ministry position. If you are a child of God, a disciple of Jesus Christ, then you have been called by Him to follow Him and do His will. It’s the knowing what the will is and how to confirm it that is the tricky part.
One of the things that helps us in discerning God’s will is a willingness to be open to Him and to earnestly seek Him. To Jeremiah, God gave these two promises: “You will seek Me with all your heart; I will be found by you” (Jeremiah 29:13) and “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3). Paul writes that one of the keys to discerning God’s will is to surrender ourselves to him: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).
The point is that we can’t know God’s will if we aren’t in tune with Him, and the best way to be in tune with Him is to earnestly seek Him out and give ourselves to Him. Part of this is in the way we relate to God and to our world: “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life” (1 Thessalonians 4:7).
A second thing that helps us is to listen to the counsel of others. When God decided it was time to send out Paul and Barnabas into the mission field, He did it through a worship service. The consensus of the worshipers was that God was setting them apart to the mission field (cf. Acts 13:1-3). The letters from Paul to Timothy and Titus are testimonies of wise counsel given to a couple of young ministers who were still struggling with their calling and their position in the church. Listen to the voices of those who are also in tune with God.
Third, realize that God confirms we are on the right path by people and events. My friend’s sister’s affirmation of me came out of nowhere, but it was an assurance from God that I was on the right track. I was speaking to a missionary who has recently returned home for furlough. She was telling me how God called her to missions work, and how God led her from one area where she thought she would go and brought her to where she is now. Throughout her process of service, God has left confirmations through those around her. There have been setbacks and unexpected turns, but she knows she is heading in the right direction regarding her mission ministry.
Finally, when you believe God has called you to do something, then prayerfully proceed in the direction you believe He is sending you. Keeping an open mind and a willing heart, let God know of your commitment to Him and let Him know that you are placing yourself in His hands. If you are heading in the wrong direction, or if you have misunderstood His message, He will correct your path and set you on the right one. God does not abandon those who are earnestly seeking Him.
One caveat. Satan, who can appear as an angel of light, likes to distract us and tries to confuse us with things that seem right and good, but really are a distraction. As long as we are trusting God and sincerely placing ourselves in His hands, we can ask Him if this idea is from Him or Satan. God will give you your answer, and you can proceed accordingly.
Conclusion
It is truly a remarkable thing to be in God’s will and allowing Him to work though us. To see God working and transforming our world and ourselves can lead to great blessing. It’s not always easy, and it can be a long process, but as we continue along the path we can rest assured that Christ is always with us, and that His Spirit is always leading us.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and he will make your path straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
© 2019 Glynn Beaty