The call of God comes into our lives at different times and ways, but one common element of his call is the message of surrender by faith. This begins with his effectual call of repentant faith at our regeneration, when the Holy Spirit enables us to behold his glory and yield our very lives to him as an act of worship. Since it’s impossible to begin walking with him in the pursuit of holiness while going in the opposite direction of pursuing our own earthly goals, this initial surrender often involves great change. The same is true when God calls us to new seasons of ministry and service as his beloved children and soldiers in his army. While these calls are different in that one initiates us into the Kingdom of God and the other directs us in his service, it’s important to examine some of the common elements of them both.
We see God’s effectual call at work in the life of Abraham, Moses, Samuel, the prophets and disciples. Each was encountered by God and received his call as they were going about life, doing what they were accustomed to doing. They left homelands, houses, family and the familiar to follow God – who became their greatest treasure.
The Bible also provides us with close-up views of what his ministry and mission call looks like in different seasons of life. One beautiful example is seen in the life of Elisha. The story in 1 Kings 19 zooms in on Elisha as he’s plowing his fields with twelve yoke of oxen. We can see that God has blessed and flourished his life, providing him with land, animals and crops. Interestingly, Elijah bursts on the scene, throws his cloak upon Elisha and then walks off. No words are necessary because the meaning and intent of his actions are clear – the call of God has come to Elisha’s life to leave behind his home and land and follow in Elijah’s footsteps.
Much like the disciples, he immediately takes action by burning his plow, cooking the meat and giving it to the people (1 Kings 19:21). Like the disciples, he is so serious about answering God’s call that he burns all of his bridges, leaving no temptation to return to the land and showing all those around him that his intentions are to trust and obey the Lord at all costs. God, not his belongings and security, is his greatest treasure.
I don’t know about you, but I enjoy reading stories like this and biographies of great missionaries, who left everything to follow the Lord. I reason that this was God’s method of calling his people to service thousands of years ago but surely not in middle class America. He couldn’t possibly summon his people to leave houses, farms, family, jobs and all that’s familiar to follow him today. Or could he?
About 14 years ago, he stepped into our family’s life with a call to leave everything and follow him to South Korea to train church planters for the majority world. I spent the first nine months resisting the call and trying to convince myself that this could not be the Spirit of God. All but a few of our friends said we were out of our minds to take our middle school daughters overseas, and many assured us that this would fail. But God’s leading became more and more clear and was affirmed by the counsel of godly leaders in our church and the increasing clarity we received from the Word and the Spirit.
We put all of our belongings in storage, rented out our house and left for South Korea with two large suitcases each. God used this season to remind us of his timeless truth that we are sojourners and called to be Christ followers, which means actually following him where he says to go and doing what he asks us to do. We also learned his call can come at any time — when we least expect it — and that our responsibility is simply to be ready to go, to surrender and follow him.
The Lord kept us in Korea for over six years and then Lord showed up and redirected us back to the states, where he called us to teach at a university. In our seventh year of teaching, he began to impress on our hearts the need to return to the nations to share the Good News. He providentially directed us to an organization of like-minded men and women who travel to the nations to provide much-needed Bible training for pastors and leaders. Once again, we left behind friends, our home, job and church and moved to be closer to family so that we could fulfill this new ministry calling.
A few months ago, my husband asked me one night if I was ready to move again if God called us back overseas. My gut reaction was shock and denial, but I knew from the past that this was the norm and custom for the Christian life and what God has asked of me since I first met him over 35 years ago. He has not provided additional clarification about this calling, but we are willing and ready to go wherever he says go. It's our great joy to trust and follow him, even if it costs us everything, because he’s worth it and has freely given us everything. How can we withhold our very lives from the one who surrendered his life for us on the cross?
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11).
