Archive for July, 2008

God created all human beings with a specific calling on their lives. Calling describes the specific task or direction God desires a person to follow where they will glorify the Lord the most. One may attempt to induce the theory of predestination from the previous statement but this would commit a fallacy. Predestination resolves around the notion all actions are dictated by God while a calling states God prescribed a specific path for all beings to follow. Every person possesses the choice to pursue this path or travel one’s own.

Serving the Lord overseas through short-term missions is a passion the Lord placed on my heart. Experiencing the Lord’s work to the needy, the impoverished, the persecuted first hand with others invigorates me. However, leading short-term missions trips falls outside the calling God placed on my life. Someone may ask how can this be possible?

God gave all human beings different callings, passions, talents and giftings. Often these personal characteristics work together to assist one another in discovering and fulfilling that calling. Each characteristic in and of itself does not fulfill this purpose, but when used collaborately glory is vividly given to God.

Leading short-term mission trips invigorates me, for God made this a passion of my heart. When used by itself, simply spending time over-seas, working alone, it becomes a burden. God keenly called me to teach his word and how to understand his word to other people; this I am certain. When God grants me the opportunity to teach others about him or experience him with others, my heart sings. Merging my passion of missions, photography, nature and God is my ecstasy. Yet no talent or characteristic may be fulfilling to my soul without the foundation of my calling.

Discovering ones talents and passions is relatively easy; uncovering one’s spiritual giftings requires more effort and time but God calls every person to it (1 Cor 12.1). Knowing without question one’s calling takes an adamant desire to understand the heart of God and to know oneself. The task is difficult but the reward of knowing why one was created, nothing, absolutely nothing compares.

Paul, considered by many people throughout history, to be one of the best rhetoricians of his time. Almost a dozen of New Testament book are credited to him. The letter to the Galatian church flows with powerful words meant to cut to the heart of its people. One could continue to flatter the apostle with an endless array of rhetorical compliments. However, continually my mind draws a passage Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, powerful works soaked in humility. When Paul preaching, he claims to know nothing but Christ and his crucifixion, a loaded statement from a former Pharisee. Even more astonishing, this legend of a man comes before men with weakness and trembling, setting aside his strong and persuasive words. Why would such a learned man put aside his credentials and talents? The reason is ironically simple. Paul does such as “a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on mans wisdom, but on God’s power.”

Why do I continually attempt to try so hard?

Living in a third world country makes one think of many things. At first, you linger on the poverty, the need, the atrocities which take place daily. After that, you begin to question what you can do about it? Where can I help? Is my help welcome? Will it do anything? Next, I began to realize only one thing exists which I can do, love. I found a quote written down by me a while ago. Since reading it, I’ve begun to meditate on it, praying God enlightens me on what true love is..

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in… Let it come in. We think we don’t deserve love, we think if we let it in we’ll become too soft. But a wise man named Levine said it right. He said, ‘Love is the only rational act.’”

Morrie Schwartz

Love and be loved. It sounds so simply, but yet so far away…