How God works: People do not often understand that God’s calling on their lives is not so much a ministry as it is an ordinary, everyday occurrence. We are waiting for the burning bush and a loud, deep voice calling out, or maybe the sound of trumpets and a great cloud swirling above us.
No, it’s different, much more simple and uneventful. Through His Word, God does call out to us. He reveals His will for us. Scripture contains His plan.
God works out His will through us
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession — to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:11-11-14)
1. GOD SEEKS YOU OUT
When Jesus began His public ministry He collected a group of fishermen, a zealot, a tax collector and the downtrodden to teach. In that time, young Jewish men would go to the Rabbi and apply for teaching. The Rabbi would chose the best candidates, the ones who could pay.
Not so with Jesus, He recruited His group from the least likely places. He sought out fishermen. He invited a tax collector, the most hated of people. Jesus wanted a zealot to join his flock, rather than pursue a life of violence fighting the Romans. You get the picture? He chose ordinary guys to do His extraordinary work.
2. HE PREPARES YOU
The disciples lived with Jesus for some three years and absorbed as much as possible. Jewish students would learn from the Rabbi, learn His stories, copy His style. Jesus, on the other hand, taught and nurtured and wanted His disciples to be themselves.
Rather than mimicking or parroting the Master, the disciples made the message their own. It became a part of them. We are invited to do the same.
3. HE POSITIONS YOU
Jesus sent His disciples out into the world to spread the Gospel. Rabbinical students would wind up in a local synagogue or if they were lucky they were politically positioned, maybe the temple. God has specific plans for each of us.
4. HE EMPOWERS YOU
Jesus wants all of us to be filled with the Holy Spirit to carry on with boldness and complete confidence. In seeking you, preparing you, and positioning you, God gives you everything you need. Jesus, the man, did not do all the miracles under His human power. Rather, He prayed and the power of the Holy Spirit acted.
How God works… through you and through me
God does all the work. We need to allow Him to work in our lives. He will not put you in a hopeless situation, or ask you do something without equipping you with everything necessary to get the job done. Just surrender to His will and say Yes!