Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash
By Mike Chaffin
Also 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.”
I wasn’t always willing to answer God the way Isaiah did. When I was a teenager, I felt God calling me into ministry. I refused. Instead of saying to God “Here am I,” I told him no, not me. Fear caused me to run. I was afraid of what God might ask me to do. Would it be to preach, or go live in a foreign country where I would fear death every day?
If I am honest with myself, I still may not be always standing ready to hear the voice of God calling me into action. I’m not sure how many times God will allow us to refuse His call. In Jonah’s case we don’t know the number of times He asked him to go to Ninevah, but when Jonah ran away, God chased him down and disciplined him. Jonah’s eventual going resulted in the whole city repenting in sackcloth and ashes. Reluctantly Jonah obeyed the call to be sent. God spared the city and the generation of people living there.
My desire to control my life lead me away from God for a few years. Thankfully, God never gives up on us. I realized my life under my terms wasn’t working out all that well. I repented of my lack of faith and trust in God and after a period of getting back in the Word and in daily prayer, heard the call Isaiah heard. This time I said yes Lord, send me.
The wonderful thing about responding to God’s call is he doesn’t send us unprepared. In my case it was about three years of intense Bible study and prayer before going to Kazakhstan on a business trip. On that trip I realized the need for Bibles in a country that had, until the USSR dissolved, been banned from owning a Bible. From this trip experience, and sharing that experience with John Bird, the founder of the Oilfield Christian Fellowship, the seed was planted to start an international Bible ministry that is now in its twentieth year and flourishing.
I had to learn the hard way that running from God is not the answer. As Adam and Eve found out, as Elijah and Jonah learned, God knows where you are. We are the hands and feet of the gospel. We are the harvesters in God’s kingdom. As the apostle Paul so poetically put it,
And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:15
You just might be the person God is calling to talk to your neighbor, a co-worker or even a stranger in need. I’ve learned it is better to obey than rebel. The peace and joy brought are rewards here and will be more so in Heaven.
Contemplation: Is there a calling in your heart to do more for God? Have you felt him calling you to be bolder in your faith? Is it time to answer the call?
