When You Hear God's Call

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9:24-25 NIV)

When God calls us to do some type of ministry, or even get involved in someone else's ministry, some of us, and I would venture to say most of us, think that we have to jump in and start doing that ministry the next day. Some of us even think we can go from doing nothing, to operating a global ministry overnight. But that just doesn't happen because if it would we would fall flat on our faces. When God calls you to do some type of ministry, He is telling you so that you can start preparing and training for it. God wants us to do things with excellence, and that only comes through training and preparation. For example, I felt God calling me to be a worship direction many years ago, but everytime an opportunity to take that role came along and I wouldn't get it. God kept closing the doors. Yes, I got frustrated and wondered if I was hearing HIm correctly. The problem was I that I was listening to the wrong voice. I heard God correctly about being a worship director, but then I started listening to my own voice that was saying "Kent, you got to do this now." When I decided to shut up and start listening to His voice, I heard Him saying that there are things I still need to learn before He could place me in that position. When I heard Him say that, I finally settled down and did all that I could to learn and eventually He opened the doors for me to take on the role of a worship director.

Take Away: When God calls you to a ministry, He is telling you so that you can start preparing. He will open the doors for you when you are ready and not a minute before. During that time of waiting is a time of learning and practicing.