3-Way Calling

I have been thinking about calls lately.

Not the telephone kind.

No, I was thinking about what happens when the Lord calls us. The call might be into (or out of) ministry, to move or not to move, etc. It might be a call to move in a radical direction or a call to pull back and spend some quiet time with Him.

Whatever the call, its the response to that call that I was chewing on this week.

I did some digging and found 3 ways people responded to the call of God in the Bible.

1. Confusion
2. Eagerness
3. Flight

First up is Samuel. In 1 Samuel 3 we read of the Lord calling young Samuel in the night. Three times Samuel gets up and goes to see Eli, the Priest he was working with. Each time he asked if Eli was calling him. It was the third time around (1 Samuel 3:8) when Eli finally understood it was the Lord calling Samuel and told him how to respond. Sin led Eli to be confused and Samuel was not trained in hearing the voice of God.

In Isaiah 6:8 we see the prophet's response to the call of the Lord. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah was ready to go where God was calling Him.

Then we have Jonah. Yeah, the guy who ran... the opposite direction.

(He did repent and answer the call later.)

Obviously we need wisdom when the call of the Lord comes. James 1:25 tells us to ask for it.

I don't always seek the Lord when I feel He is nudging me to do the uncomfortable. Sometimes, like Jonah, I run.

My desire is to know Him more, to seek His face and the wisdom only He can provide. I want to move with God in eager anticipation. The next time the Lord calls, I want to answer like Isaiah.