...influenced by Francis Chan and Chris Deluise.
This morning I heard a sermon that was about "Call to Action". This sermon was a message from Jer. 1:4-10 and about how we react to our "calling" or "call".
Point 1. This is a reflection of the message. Our progression, as Chris stated, goes from
1. The Call
2.The Rejection of that call
3. GOD'S reassurance that it is right for us
4. The sign's that the call is in motion.
The call itself is continual and should allows be reexamined. Never should you think that the spirit is done with you. God may need you to move into a new mission field or he may be using your current mission/ministry to springboard into something else. (btw...all of us have a ministry because our lives are a ministry). And maybe in the searching for your call you discover that God has you where you're at for a reason and He isn't trying to move you in different direction.
The Rejection can be lengthy or so short you may not realize it. We are needed to do things that require us to subject ourselves or lay down for God/others. We are all selfish in our humanity, which is a wall and causes us to reject. But if we subject ourselves to God's will we can fight that rejection.
The Reassurance come from, in my experience, a path of least resistance. If I'm answering the call, my life seems simple/easy/but not absent of hardships. It's just that our hardships don't seem bigger than the God we serve.
....... A side note..... If you stress and worry, it's because you don't believe God is in charge. We all experience this, but if we live our lives this way ...it shows God that we are lacking Faith. If you need Biblical examples of people that worried and stressed, but then "got it"... see Peter, John, Andrew, Timothy, etc.
The last progression is the Sign(s) that you've answered God's call. This can be experience, words, actions, etc that are moments that God is wanting you to see. Have you ever done the right thing (in your life) and saw something come of it? That is a sign. You have to be trying to understand God's will for you in your life and you need to have your radar on for reassurance/signs.
Point 2. I really liked Chris' message, but I wanted to add an aspect that I picked up from Chan's book Crazy Love (p169).
You don't treat action for God so differently that you don't move. You've heard someone say "I just don't know what God is calling me to do." Their reaction to that is inaction. They don't serve others, the poor, the needy, the disenfranchised, and God because they don't know where God is "calling" them.
Don't wait because you aren't sure.
If you using that as an excuse, let me pose the same question Chan addressed.
Did you watch TV for 3 hours because God told you to?
Do you sleep in because God told you to?
Did you eat too much because God told you to?
Do you do a lot of thing because God told you to? .... I'd have to say NO.
Your "call" or "calling" is important but don't let that be so important to you that you don't ACT. ACT for God.