Are You Being Called?

From the book If You Want to Walk on Water You've Got to Get Out of the Boat, by John Ortberg:

' There is a consistent pattern in Scripture of what happens in a life that God wants to use and improve:

* There is always a call. God asks an ordinary person to engage in an act of extraordinary trust, that of getting out of the boat.

* There is always fear. God has an inextinguishable habit of asking people to do things that are scary to them.

* There is always reassurance. God promises his presence. God also promises to give whatever gifts are needed to fulfill his assignment.

* There is always a decision.

* There is always a changed life. Those who say yes to God's call don't walk the walk perfectly - not by a long shot. But because they say yes to God, they learn and grow even from their failures. And they become part of his actions to redeem the world.

Those who say no are changed too. They become a little harder, a little more resistant to his calling, a little more likely to say no the next time. Whatever the decision, it always changes a life - and it changes the world that little life touches.

There is some aspect of your life in which God is calling you to walk with and to him, and that when we say yes to his calling, it sets in motion a divine dynamic far beyond merely human power. Maybe it has to do with your work or a relational risk or a gift you could develop or resources you could give. Probably it will involve facing your deepest fear. Certainly it will go to the core of who you are and what you do.'

[I'll say more from this great book in future entries.]

Winners are called by God and ready to respond.