WHEN GOD CALLS AND FRIENDS DIDN'T HEAR HIM

In the life of faith the pressure of forethought is transferred to God by the faith which fulfills His behests: we have faith in God's accountable rationality, not in our own.  If we have never heard the call of God, all we see is the accountability that we can state to ourselves.  Practical work is nearly always a determination to think for ourselves, to take the pressure of forethought on ourselves: I see the need; therefore I must do something.  That is not the effectual call of God, but the call of our sympathy with conditions as we see them.  When God's call comes, we learn to do actively what He tells us and take no thought for the morrow.  Take a step of faith in God, and your rational friends will say: "Very beautiful, but suppose we all did it!" 

As I read this Oswald Chambers quote this morning, wow ran through my veins.  I've encountered two major calls of God in my time; (1) to pack up family and few belongings in a U-Haul and venture off to preaching school in Dallas, and (2) to pack up family and few belongings in a U-Haul and move to Memorial Drive in Tulsa.

I truly sensed His call for both; yet there is no rational conversation nor explanation to how one knows such is a call from God.  Chambers' last sentence is stunning.  Those were the words used with intent to halt my course....by very dear friends....for both moves.

Finding ministers is a perpetual church opportunity.  A conflict all seekers need to consider is whether such a man is called to your place or is merely looking for employment.  If called one will tend to endure because while there is no explanation which satisfies the practical evaluator, there is a clarity which will tend to withstand hardship.  If merely employed, though, church troubles usually call for another U-Haul rental.

It is neither illegal for unspiritual for a preacher to move about.  It is important to make all moves the best we can by leaning into the Spirit's whisper rather than earthy needs.  The practical and the rational are often the mockers of the spiritual (I Cor. 2:14) and this must be weighed seriously.