Supernatural Commission II

Calling in the moment God is speaking into our daily lives. Knowing what God wants you to do in the moment means listening and discerning God’s voice hour by hour, each day. What does God want you to do right now? Today? This kind of calling relies heavily on doing what you know God is calling you to do in scripture (living out the fruit of the Spirit), but it also involves listening for and discerning the voice of God. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?

To hear that, we need to be intentional about listening. Calling in the moment is what we saw with Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8. He heard God telling him to go to a particular place and talk with a particular person, and Philip was open to that leading. Calling for a season God also calls us to do things in seasons. What is God asking me to do this year? These next few years? God may be calling you to be a student now, but that’s not necessarily a life calling. Or he may be leading you to a season of caring for small children or elderly parents, but that won’t be a full lifetime either.

Sometimes circumstances change or opportunities arise. The Apostle Paul experienced this when God called him to share the gospel in one place but not in another. He also experienced it when God told him to stay in one place for an extended period of time. In our cases, we also need to listen to God’s distinctive voice as we live in obedience to his general commands. Life calling This is what most people mean when they talk about calling. The trick is, we can’t discern our life calling—or see the whole path in front of us—right at the beginning without also listening for God’s voice as we discern his calling in the moment and his calling for seasons.

As we practice listening for his voice in the moment, we learn what that feels like. As we live out God’s calling for certain seasons, we start to see the bigger picture fall together. We may have a general sense of life calling early on—say, missions. Or take for example, Paul’s calling on the road to Damascus to proclaim his name to the gentiles. But even he didn’t see the whole picture at once. In the same way, we won’t see the whole picture of what that will look like for us until we participate and live into the other types of calling. How do we discern these varying callings?

The discernment process is the same for all of us: listen, pray, try something, if it doesn’t work, pray and listen again, try something else, be open to surprises, listen for God’s voice. If one path doesn’t work, pray, listen, and maybe try another. Recognize that life isn’t always what you expect, and it won’t always go according to plan. There’s not a simple formula to follow discernment flows out of our personal relationship with God.

There are a variety of ways we sense promptings and the leading of the Spirit. See what works for you. It’s a constant cycle of discernment, seeking, looking, listening, testing, trying, determining. Keep these three principles central in your process: Cultivate a heart that is open and responsive. (Prov 3:5-6) Live into what God has already revealed. (John 14:15) Walk alongside other followers of Jesus. (Hebrews 10:24-25) Remember that no one else will be standing with you before the throne when you are called to account for your time here on earth.

What do you want to be able to tell God that you did with all he left you to steward? And what do you want to hear? “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” Matthew 25:21 “The Lord bids each one of us in all life’s actions to look to his calling. For He knows with what great restlessness human nature flames, with what fickleness it is borne hither and thither, how its ambition longs to embrace various things at once. Therefore, lest through our stupidity and rashness everything be turned topsy-turvy, he has appointed duties for every man in his particular way of life. And that no one may thoughtlessly transgress his limits, He has named those various kinds of livings “callings.” Therefore, each individual has his own kind of living assigned to him by the Lord as a sort of sentry post, so that he may not heedlessly wander about throughout life.” - John Calvin

PS: We have all been raised as Harvesters, this was the call of Jesus to all men How and where we will work in different seasons of our assignments shall be determined by the Holy Spirit Some of us will start as saved saints and end up as Bishops Some will start as Bishops and end as saved saints Let us grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ daily Our fields shall not go unploughed and our harvests shall be great

-GSW-