The difference between Jr. Novice and Sr. Novice hockey is amazingly vast. In Jr. the kids all congregate like bees to honey around the puck. Together they follow it all ten of them, falling down and taking others with them. In Sr. they are learning positions, learning where best to be to help their team, and they learn their role rather than just chasing the puck. It is far more fun for a dad to watch, and I can tell that my man Caleb is gaining a better understanding of the game as a result.
Recently I have been giving a lot of thought to this unsettled concept. The idea that maybe we have settled too soon in our Christian walk, and as a result have missed out on what God has called us to. Another example of this could easily be Moses. In Exodus 2 we see that Moses after running away from Pharaoh for killing an Egyptian, settles in the land of his father in law. It says he became content in the land. So much so, that when God shows up in a burning bush to call Moses to the heart pounding, exhilarating mission to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land, Moses argues and doesn’t want to leave.
He was willing to trade a revolutionary leading, sea splitting, mountain top rumbling, law proclaiming, GLORY OF GOD observing life for one that smelled of sheep. He would have spent the rest of his life bored. Waiting for vacation, longing for retirement, and wondering what could have been.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a life wasted wondering what could have been. I want to be a follower of Jesus that responds to the call to take up your cross and follow Him, with, “Maybe, when I feel like it.” I don’t want to say I am a follower of Jesus, but go away sad because He says, sell everything you have and give it to the poor. I want to follow Jesus into the life He has risen for me to have.
Now the question that this raises for me is, how do I know if I am the one called to
That raises the question though, how do I know if God is asking me to sell my house and give it all away, or just think more strategically about how to give sacrificially to the poor? Sometimes calls from the pulpit, put out one need and everyone feels like Jr. Novice players chasing a puck. We feel like we all have to do the same thing. How do we know what it is we are called to do?
One of the most encouraging parts of Moses’ story is that the LORD directs him. Moses though reluctant at times still heard the voice of God. God told him where to spend his life and how, all Moses had to do was follow in faith.
Thanks to Jesus, and the work He completed, we know what position to play, we don’t all have to just flock to whatever need the preacher proclaims. God is speaking, the Holy Spirit has descended and is willing to tell us how to spend our lives. We need to learn to ask.
You see Jesus promised He wouldn’t leave His followers alone. He went to send the Holy Spirit, to comfort, to teach and to bring to remembrance all that He taught. The same Spirit that is in Jesus is in those of us who are true disciples of Jesus Christ (John 14:15-31). The same God that spoke to Moses resides in the believer in the Holy Spirit.
God has a plan for you, He has a will for your life, and He has sent the guide, the comforter, not just to direct and bring comfort, but to be the direction and the comfort within us.
You can be sure God will speak, just be sure to check with Scripture to make sure it is the Holy Spirit and not something else.
Are you unsettled in your Christian life, but not sure what that looks like? Ask the Spirit of God to direct you and He will.
