Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came (Genesis 12:1–5, KJV).
Abram received a call from God that changed his life. We all, at some time or another, have received a call that has changed our life. Calls from God are not always as exciting, comfortable, or desirable—His calls in our life are most of the time what we would consider ridiculous. However, when God calls, there is always a promise to those who answer. If God speaks to us, there’s something worth going after.
Scripture tells us that if we are God’s sheep, we know his voice (John 10:27) and we will always bid Him to come into our life when He calls upon us (John 3:20). God calls us because there is an avenue we have not yet walked with Him; there is not a blessing we have stepped into yet. There is always more with God.
We become too jaded with answering God’s call because of what culture has ingrained in us. We always think there’s a catch when we say, “yes.” We may also feel that we’ll be let down when we commit to something. There are too many inconsistencies with people. But, we need to remember that the One who calls us has never lied (Numbers 23:19), never forsaken us (Hebrews 13:5), and is faithful and true (I Corinthians 1:9)!
The Me Problem
Paul warned Timothy to beware in the last days when men would be lovers of their own selves (II Timothy 3:1–5). We like to think that everyone around us is the problem in our life, when the truth is, it’s us. We like to do things according to our way. We like when it fits, feels, and fashions well. Answering the call of God is easy, but the journey after the call may be a little difficult. But, what is so great about being called to do something easy?
We need to remember that God didn’t call us just to sit back and take it easy. Jesus died on the cross to save us from something (hell), but also for something. God has a plan that He wants us to follow to change our life forever!
God’s call may be a dangerous one. He may put us in the thick of the battle to be a light to others who haven’t yet answered God’s call. He’s called us to be holy—set apart for His specific service. We may not agree with where God wants to take us, but we need to be obedient to it. We need to realize that answering His call may not just impact us, but will impact others as well.
The Timing Problem
We live in a time when we want things to happen quickly; we want big results, and we want them now. When God calls us, we may not see the results of our obedience and the purpose of that call in our lifetime. God’s purpose for His call may impact well beyond the sphere of our own life. In the life of Abram, God told Him that he would be a blessing (Genesis 12:2) and in him would all the families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:3).
Abram lived a life never seeing the fulfillment of this call. Can we ask ourselves today if we would be willing to answer a call without seeing the outcome in our lifetime? Abram stepped out not knowing what the outcome would be, but he was obedient knowing it was from the Lord (Hebrews 11:8–10). He, as well as others we read about in Scripture, died never receiving or seeing the promises of God (Hebrews 11:13). But, Abram knew those promises were afar off and embraced it (Hebrews 11:13).
Ways to Answer the Call
There are three ways we can choose to answer the call. We can answer, decline, or defer God’s call. God wants us to answer when He calls because He knows the outcome! The worst thing we can do is defer the call. God tells the church in revelations that He spew them out of His mouth because they were neither cold nor hot (Revelation 3:15–16). They didn’t answer and they didn’t decline.
Those who defer the call of God don’t realize that they don’t have all that they need in their life. They need God—they need to answer the call (Revelation 3:17). It won’t be until we answer will we be blessed and will we be changed (Revelations 3:19–20).