The Bewildering Call of God

This summer it seems that life has had its ups and downs. We haven't always been directly hit but everywhere around us it seems that pain abounds. Long ago I got over asking why but some days I must admit I find it all bewildering nonetheless.... a friend that lost her 22 year daughter in a car accident a week after she graduated from college.... the mother of one of Charlie's classmates who is struggling with an aggressive bladder cancer, Aunt Lindi's brother's cancer, Kathy Paulick... lifetime friend, with blood clots, a terrible cancer, and chemo regime, Hannah's friends, Jason and Sarah, who have an ongoing battle in Bethlehem with Israeli's trying to bully their way on to a property that is slated to be used to build a hospital for Palestinian children with disabilities. Then there are the bewildering puzzles of life like Hannah's last minute recall from Sudan, the death of Charlie's 4-H pig during his last County Fair, the sudden death of Dan's beloved horse, Rustler, and my brother, Brian, who has valuable property to sell but the slump is making that impossible, just to name a few....

So this morning I was reading Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest" and he had this to say...

"God called Jesus Christ to what seemed to be absolute disaster. And Jesus Christ called His disciples to see Him put to death, leading every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken. His life was an absolute FAILURE from every standpoint except God's. But what seemed to be failure from man's standpoint was a triumph from God's standpoint, because God's purpose is never the same as man's purpose.

This bewildering call of God comes into our lives as well. The call of God can never be understood absolutely or explained externally; it is a call that can only be perceived and understood internally by our true inner nature. The call of God is like the call of the sea- no one hears it except the person who has the nature of the sea in him. What God call us to cannot be be definitely stated, because His call is simply to be His friend to accomplish His own purposes. Our real test is in truly believing that God knows what He desires. The things that happen do not happen BY CHANCE- they happen entirely by the decree of God. God is sovereignly working out His own purposes.

So, Good Christian, Oswald challenges us (me) to let your life by guided by "the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should be characteristic of the children of God" who believe in His sovereignty.... LTK