Calling

In solitary silence we listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls us the beloved God speaks to the deepest strata of our souls.

.....Brennan Manning

In all the years I was growing up I woulld hear pastors say they were "called" to the ministry and it was always a vocational call. I never heard anyone say that they were to called to do ministry. I'm so glad that there is now more discussion and teaching on being called into an area of ministry. God wants us all to find our place of fulfillment and that doesn't mean, that we have to stay in one place of service for our entire life or in one location. Part of my joy in Women's Ministries is watching women as they grow and as God calls them to new and bigger ministries. Then the thrill of seeing their apprentices move right into leadership of the area that was vacated. There a some steps of identification to a call that I gleaned from Henry Blackaby's teaching that clarifies a calling:

*Call comes from another person
*Call becomes confirmed by the Holy Spirit
*Call requires action following confirmation
*Call will bring disbelief--"who me?" or "I couldn't do that"
*Call will separate you from someone people who discourage and also provide some encouragers, but the peace of God will be powerful when it is His call.

It takes solitude to be aware of God's leading. When we begin to sense that He wants us to do something, a restlessness begins and grows into a burning desire. This is the critical time of the calling. At this point you are to wait for the next set of instructions! Don't try to open the doors or move the obstacles that will allow you to "do" something. Henry Blackaby in "Experiencing God" states: "God always will give you enough specific directions to ddo now what He wants you to do. When you need more directions, He gives you more in His timing....don't try to skip over the relationship (with God) to get on with the doing". In the above steps, action is only taken when the calling becomes confirmed by the Holy Spirit. God can open doors for us, but we can't open them for ourselves.

"I will wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more thatn watchmen wait for the morning." Ps 130:5-6