JUST OVER THE HORIZON

Read: 1Corinthians 1:18-31
Calling.
It’s a short, simple word, but it’s always been a large and very intimidating word to me. It’s caused me more racing minds, elevated pulses, and sleepless nights than I can count, as a matter of fact.
At the hearing the word calling has always left me with the nagging feeling that God is leading me to something more with my life than where I am at right now.
And most often, when the word calling arises in my life, the word ministry most often accompanies it. And no, I do not believe in coincidence – the God is too big and the Holy Spirit far too direct for me to believe in a coincidental connection between these two words.
But the word ministry has always been as large and daunting as the word calling in my thought process. Anytime the two words emerge together in mind and in my heart, invariably the wheels in my head start spinning faster than I can imagine, and my thought process becomes so jumbled it’s been impossible to make sense of any true, clear direction.
But, the deeper I dig into Scripture, the larger these words loom in my heart. I continue to feel the Lord leading me into deeper waters than the shallows that I feel like I am wading in right now. The horizon of possibility just appears so vast right now, I worry about navigating the ship in the wrong direction.
I guess maybe that’s the point, though. I am trying to guide a ship for which I am neither captain nor navigator. I am trying to figure out the destination for a ship whose course I did not plot, and whose direction I cannot see.
Scripture teaches that God wants to use each of us on a real and eternal level to build His Kingdom. As I think about it, this what ministry truly is – it’s being willing to take the gifts and talents God’s given us and, in faith, seek to impact lives for His glory in a real and tangible way each day. So I guess in that sense, each of us is called to ministry.
The trouble is the modern church tends to think of ministry simply in terms of an occupation or vocation. And don’t get me wrong, occupational or vocational ministry are real and essential roles within the body of Christ, and not a calling to be taken lightly.
However, ministry is far more than an occupation, it is the center of a believer’s purpose. We are all put on this earth to be ministers of the Gospel, and no role in His body is too insignificant to impact His kingdom is sizeable and miraculous ways.
In fact, the first ministers of the Gospel were fishermen and tax collectors, among the least heralded respected roles in Jesus’ culture. And look at what the Lord did through them.
So, am I called to “vocational” ministry? I still do not know the answer to that question. If that’s where He leads me, he will open the door I need to step through in His time.
But Scripture still tells me I am called to be a minister of His gospel – with what I have right now, in where I am at right now. Ministry is not some far off calling, it is a command to all of us to reach out to the lost with His gospel on a daily basis.
I do not know what He has for me, or you, over the horizon, but this I know and trust.
He has a plan for me, He has a direction for my ship.
And where it’s headed is greater than anything I could ever imagine on my own!



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