The Call of God
Today’s Passage – Exodus 1 – 3 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Mark 11 – 12; Proverbs 20; Psalms 96 – 100)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 121
Read the “0120 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this passage – “Growing Through Affliction“
“And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.” (Exodus 3:4)
Forgive me for reminiscing a little this morning, but when I read this passage of Scripture dealing with the call of God to Moses, I cannot help but remember the times that I heard clearly the voice of God as He was directing my life. The times that I will share with you happened after I had already trusted Christ as my Saviour, and after I was also already serving Him and growing in Him the best I knew how through my local church. Notice in the passage that Moses also had to get close to God in order for him to hear God’s call.
The first time in my life that I felt God call me was when I was attending a evening service back at Ocean County Baptist Church many years ago. I was probably 25 years old at the time and had only been a Christian at that point for a short while. Anyway, we had a guest missionary speaker that night. I must confess that I do not remember the preacher’s name, or the place where he was a missionary. I don’t even remember his message title or text. What I do remember, however, was his invitation. It went something like this: “If God were to call you to do something, and He were to make it clear to you that it was His will, would you surrender?” To me, that was a no brainer. The man was not asking me to surrender to some specific place or ministry at that moment; he was merely posing the possibility of a call, and asking what my response would be. I went forward, and frankly I thought the entire congregation would have walked the aisle with me; but when I got up after praying, I was shocked to see that there were only two of us up at the front. At that time in my life, I had no idea what God might do with me, but I told Him that night that I was willing to go “if” He were to call me. I often think back on that moment as the beginning point of God directing me to where I am today.
The second time, I heard God’s call clearly was when He called me to go to Bible College. I had already been to college once and had a degree in business administration, and I was perfectly content with just serving with my pastor at my home church while I learned what I needed to know there. I remember my pastor and I agreeing that I should take some correspondance classes so that I would not have to uproot my family and go off to school. God, however, had other plans. While I was attending a conference down in Longview, Texas, God revealed clearly that He wanted me to be trained at Texas Baptist College (now Texas Independent Seminary). I do not regret that move for one minute. God taught me much there, but the main thing that He taught me was how to trust Him.
The third time I heard the voice of God in my life was when God called me to be the pastor of Jersey Shore Baptist Church. I never candidated at any other church. I really didn’t even candidate here. God, through a very miraculous set of circumstances placed me here. That was over twenty-one years ago now and one thing is for sure, knowing that I was genuinely “called of God” has been the thing that has kept me going for all these years. There have been many blessings along the way, and there have also been some difficult days; but I know that I am exactly where God wants me. The certainty of God’s call is what helps keep me going.
What is God calling you to do? Maybe He has called you to do something in the past and you have not heeded that call. the Bible tells us “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:29). God has not changed his mind about His call on your life; He is just waiting for you to surrender to that call.
Posted in Devotions by Phil Erickson with 5 comments.
Ok I’ll be the first to comment, Jim Olmstead, a missionary who visited the church said trust in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. My desire has always been missions and I am thrilled to be serving God through missions in the local church. It’s my sweet spot and Pastor Erickson knows it’s my calling. Who else has a calling?
Great Comment! Someone once said that the secret to the Christian life is finding the will of God and doing it!
Amen Pastor thank you for the encouragement of this post. I like,And that this is where God wants me.As Pastor of our church, you have given us many avenues of approaches to learning the word of God. You have taken us through some of the most difficult times(Covid) your pulpit was never silenced.You have encouraged me and others to learn the word of God through your preaching and teaching and taking difficult Bible course.,Thank you for being the Godly Pastor that you are and following the vision that God has given you.like the post.
Like your comment Gary
I surrender not many of you know but I was accepted into sisters of mercy. They want me full time for one year. After that it’s upto you. Then you must do eight years to become a sister. They start you off by volunteering with sisters of mercy. But my feeling towards this is all of you are very special in my heart and I love each and everyone of you. Thank you pastor phil Mr bob Fenton Issan sherry my choir director sisi Kyle. God has a special calling but it’s hard to let go of that feeling. I would miss all of you deeply.