Answering the Call (or the finger!)

I'm willing to bet that this time last week, most of you were not thinking to yourself, "Hey!  You  know what?  I would really like to facilitate a new Life Group!"  But here you are!  Pretty cool, huh?  It's amazing how God works when we just take the risk,step outside of our comfort zones and allow Him to just work through us!  I know that you are going to do an amazing job in this new ministry role, and more importantly, we are going to have a great time as we travel through this new journey together!  We're with you in this!  So just hang on, and enjoy the ride!  Sound good?

I also want you guys to know that we believe 100% that this is a divine appointment!  We truly believe that as we prayed for God to choose the right people, He selected just the right person for each new Life Group.  He took into consideration the skills, talents, life experience, wisdom and hearts of each one of you, chose you ahead of time, and guided each one of those fingers to point to YOU!  You were chosen for this by God through your peers and BANG!  Here you are!  Very cool!


I spent some time thinking about our short time together in training, and here's a few words of encouragement that I hope blesses you as you prepare for your new group.  I was reminded of a verse in Isaiah that I wrote an article for on an online devotional website about a year ago.  Read Isaiah 6:1-8, and then join me in these thoughts.

In this passage, we read about the calling of Isaiah into ministry as a prophet of God.  Our first thought might be to think that God was speaking directly to Isaiah when He said, “Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?”  But Isaiah only "overheard" God while He was calling out to the heavenly beings that surrounded him.  It was Isaiah that took the initiative to answer God’s call.  Isaiah wasn’t forced into serving.  No one twisted his arm or made him feel guilty.  He only heard the call, realized that the stakes were high and answered.  No questions asked, just “Send me!”

I wonder how often do we think that there will be plenty of time to serve God, or feel that we’re just not ready.  How often have we thought that our past failures keep us from serving God?  How often have we thought that we just weren’t good enough, or others are more qualified?  Isaiah wasn’t good enough.  He wasn’t necessarily ready and there may have been others that were much more qualified.  But God revealed to Isaiah that the only requirement for serving Him was something we often forget: just being available!


God seeks people who will readily answer the call simply because it is Him who asks.  He doesn’t want us to pass a test first and He doesn’t want us to dwell on our past failures.  He wants imperfect people that will humbly, impulsively and radically answer, “Send me!”  God isn’t looking for ability, as much as He is looking for availability!  Let us all continue to be available, and answer when He calls!

Peace & Blessings!


Jake