At this time of year, my mentor Oswald Chambers, is talking a lot about calling. And I wonder how waiting fits with calling. Somehow, in my mind, it seems to fit together.
Oswald says that God sends out a call that is part of the nature of who He is. It’s not necessarily a particular call to someone to do something specific. He cited Isaiah in chapter six of his book where Isaiah heard the call from God, “Who will go for us?”
Isaiah responded, “Send me!” Isaiah then embarked on a brand new career—that of Prophet of God.
There wasn’t anything specific at that point. But I wonder, if Isaiah had not been waiting, would he have heard that call that changed his life?
Would you or I hear God calling? We are running from the time we get up until we go to bed. We go to work, we go to school, we run from one sporting event to another. We sit on our computers, or our phones, constantly checking out the social media. If we try to sit and wait, what might we miss?
I wonder where is the quiet place to sit and wait?
Oswald says that when God, through His nature, calls and we, through our nature, hear and respond, then we become one in service. Wow! One in service with God? How cool is that? What kinds of things might God then give to us that may change our lives as well as others lives around us?
I’ve been hearing friends here and there talk about “unplugging” sometimes from the babble of media around us. Yes, staying connected with friends and family is a very good thing. But an old fashioned dose of boundaries is also a very good thing.
Here in the frozen north, we have been living in a hush as fog enshrouds us and turns our trees white with crystals. Maybe sitting and contemplating the wonder of this quiet beauty will give the opportunity to wait for the call of God?
“I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me.” Isaiah 6:8.
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