THE REALITIES OF THE CALL OF GOD
by Ann Wanjiku
God will call you. He will give you an assignment. He will show you glimpses of your future and what He has reserved for you. It will be exciting and scary at the same time. He will also give you instructions and conditions you are to live by to walk in your calling. Because you are confident you know His voice, you will obey Him. You will take risks and maybe even make tremendous sacrifices to begin the journey into your calling.
Then He will test you. And one of the tests will be time. Days will become weeks. Weeks will become months. Months will drag into years. Sometimes years, and years.
And so, you will be tested during this time.
Tested with people not believing you and looking at you as if you’re crazy or delusional. They will say behind your back that you have psychological problems. Or that you’re plain crazy, especially because of the things you ‘claim God is telling you’ and the sacrifices you’re making in response to what you’re hearing.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, lie, and say all kinds of evil things about you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because you have a great reward in heaven! The prophets who lived before you were persecuted in these ways.” Matthew 5:11-12
Tested with nothing happening. You will wait to see some fruit but nothing will seem to be forthcoming. You’ll do everything you believe he’s asking you to do, but it will appear like He’s not keeping His side of the bargain.
Then you’ll humanly begin to fidget. You’ll be nervous. You’ll secretly wonder if they were right. Y’know, those who said you were not very okay in your mind? You’ll wonder if they saw something you couldn’t.
You’ll wonder if you heard Him right. And whether maybe you missed the path along the way. Some of those days will be really dark. You’ll remember all the things you laid down to follow the call you believed you received from the Lord and you’ll secretly wonder if you made a mistake.
You’ll run out of resources many times. And some of the people who promised to support you will start getting tired. People who seemed to believe in you will quit on you along the way, especially when things don’t seem to work out for you as you said they would. Some will take it an extra mile. Not only will they openly refuse to support you, but also, they will tell as many people as they can not to support you. And they will have ‘solid’ reasons.
Some people will give you support, but then also see that as a doorway to control you. They will suggest or even start pressuring you to take directions that God isn’t taking you. And they will feel like they have a right to, because maybe they are supporting you financially or in some other way. Others will make suggestions to you out of ignorance and some level of concern, because according to them, you either don’t know what to do with your life, or you have completely lost it.
You will feel really alone sometimes. You will sit with your phone and scroll through numbers and names…looking for at least one person you can call and share your questions, your stress with…and sometimes, there will be none. Yea, you’ll look at all those names and not find one person you’re confident is really on your side.
Sometimes, you’ll shut your eyes and take the risk of reaching out for help. You will look for resources, for counsel…and sometimes, all you need is for someone to listen to you. And some of those times, you will be openly dismissed, judged, misunderstood, rejected, ignored, pushed away and scorned.
They will do this because according to them, you are confused or they may even suspect you of motives you are not even after. All you wanted was a pillar. Because you were growing weak in the waiting room of God’s calling. And sometimes you will share your heart, and that information will be used as ammunition to fight you. But you were only looking for a pillar. Someone you could lean on because you were weak in the waiting room of God’s calling.
You will get tired of waiting. Waiting for a shift. Waiting for a move. Waiting for a breakthrough. Waiting for God. Humanly, you will get tired.
And I’m not even halfway done with the list of what to expect…
HOWEVER:
I assure you that if you will stick through the test of time and not quit, you will receive the approval of God and He will change your seasons.
The test of time is meant to pressure you enough to quit if you were meant to quit. It’s meant to test if your yes was really yes. It’s meant to prove if you’re really in for the long haul.
So…
Are you in for the long haul?
Was your yes to God, really YES?
THAT’S THE TEST OF TIME.
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 1 Peter 1:6-7
I know that I will live to see the Lord’s goodness in this present life. Trust in the Lord. Have faith, do not despair. Trust in the Lord. Psalm 27:13-14
Ann