What is God calling you to do right now?

5.8.23

Each of us alive now is meant to be on the Earth at this time and in the place where we are. The question each of us needs to ask ourselves and God is this: What is God calling me to do in the world now? What am I particularly well placed to do right now to help our neighbors close by or out in the world? And what issue am I to address in my life? Global warming, the damage our economic system does to the poorer members of our society and the huge blessings that it gives to the rich, the lack of community in our country, the lack of interest in the lives of the bottom half of our citizenry, deepening others’ lives in following Jesus, or just bringing God’s love everywhere I go?

For those of us committed to loving God and faithfulness to His ways, we know that there is a calling for us, a purpose, a fulfilling sense of what we can give to others, to our church, to our nation right now. These questions are part of following Jesus: Have I given up to God all the ways I am attached to our culture, to the world, to what others think of me—all the ways I am indifferent to God’s call?  Have I admitted to the Lord all the sins I have committed, so that I can be healed from them? Have I given all my ego’s needs and agendas over to God for healing so that I can be transformed into someone who lives through the fruit of the Spirit instead of in the world?

Our call from the Lord consists of all these things—the healing and transformation of ourselves so that we can live out the purpose for which we were brought into this world. There is nothing fulfilling in the material world, not the accumulation of stuff, not the praise of everyone who admires us, nor the rung of the corporate ladder on which we stand. They only have meaning in the world and that meaning is based on the fear of not being important. But, in our own hearts and minds and souls and bodies, what would fulfill us is mapped out by God, not by us or the world.

If we are willing to be used by God, if we are putting Him first in our lives, if we are surrendering what we want in our lives, then we are ready to be truly useful in these perilous times. So here is where the practices of Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, keeping a Gratitude Journal, and a Daily Prayer practice will connect us to the “still small voice of God (1 Kings 19:12).” And once we hear what He is asking of us, all we have to do is to obey Him, pick up our cross and do what He is asking of us. We don’t have to worry about how we will do it, what to say, or about any pushback we may experience—God will be with us at all times, guiding us, sustaining us, loving us.

If we keep our hearts and minds and bodies and souls connected to God, then He will take care of everything for us: provide the words we need to speak, the way to proceed, the peace we are to exhibit, the joy we will experience at carrying out this mission no matter how large or small it is. These are all in God’s hands plus the way what we say and do affects the world, how many hear what we say or see what we’re doing. Hear what He says in Isaiah 55:11: “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Then He adds what it feels like to have been a part of spreading His word: “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands” (v. 12).

Questions to ponder over the week: [as above]Have I given up to God all the ways I am attached to our culture, to the world, to what others think of me—all the ways I am indifferent to God’s call?  Have I admitted to the Lord all the sins I have committed, so that I can be healed from them? Have I given all my ego’s needs and agendas over to God for healing so that I can be transformed into someone who lives through the fruit of the Spirit instead of in the world?

Blessing for the week: May we be the people of God who are bringing His love and light into this world. May we be loving in all that we do. May we live in peace and joy and love.

Check out my two websites: patsaidadams.com and deepeningyourfaith.com.

Two Announcements

1. I am giving away a 10-week journaling guide to Jesus’s Two Great Commandments. If you are interested, email me at patsadams@gmail.com and I will email it to you, free of charge.
2. My latest books, “Called to Help the Poor and Needy” and “A Study Guide to the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount” are now in bookstores and on line. The first is about the more than 2,000 verses in the Bible which detail God’s instructions for caring for those in need. The second is a journaling/pondering guide to Jesus’s most complete sermon.