The Calling

Dedicated to the God who is Wonderful beyond understanding. May all we do bring glory to Him and Him only.
Dedicated also to my parents, my beloved girlfriend, Yean, and all my brothers and sisters whose continuous support physically, spiritually and prayer helped me to be all the best I can be.

It seems rather strange that I am starting this entry again. I was actually halfway through 15 minutes ago but the inspiration just popped and vanished. Pooh! That is a bad feeling. Frustration etc. But if that is a problem, that is the least of any problems one has to endure. There are days when you feel like Shakespeare, other times you feel literally clueless in writing. But I must write as I am convince to share what I must: God's revelation and His faithfulness, love, grace. Another thing, giving up is no longer in my dictionary, it shouldn't be in yours.

There is a unbelievable but trully comforting verse in the bible that goes like this:
His divine power has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (Just in case you don't believe it, it's 2 Peter 1:3). Wow, absolutely fantastice and praise God! Awesome and I can't think of more superlatives to praise Him. I actually am still taking time to understand this truth. Everything is already there for our taking: to live a life according to His promises, to do miracles in His name, and to live a life of holiness for His glory. Because of that, I choose to be joyful, faithful, powerful! And indeed, though there might be weapons constantly forming against me, they shall never prevail against me in the name of Jesus! (Isaiah 54)

The verse above has a nice heading: Making One's Calling and Election Sure. At least that's the heading for an NIV bible. What is a calling? My laptop's WordWeb dictionary (by Princeton University) defines this noun as The particular occupation for which you are trained. Well, occupation?? Meaning that it's the principle work you do in your life? and you're trained to do it? How cool is that? Today I am going to ask you a simple but challenging question then. What is your calling?

Of course if I am asking you, I obviously had some thoughts on it. I think I probably started to ask this question not more than 4 or 5 years ago. When your heart is touched by God, you naturally want to give your all to Him- and you ask 'how?' .. And I started to ask God concerning my calling. I started also to look at what I have in my life that would be amounted to this "calling". I started to see 3 significant things in my life - and began to think, "is that it?"

. . .

I believe that when I seek, I shall find. So recently, I got this knowledge: Calling comes from a purpose, vision, conviction. How does this then change into a revelation- I believe that it is by action. To positively press on even when you don't feel like it; to encourage when you feel discouraged; to love; to knock; to ask; to read. And surprisingly I don't feel tired because of the revelation from Him who is above all. It is like what my pastor from ELC said, 'freshly baked bread'. The call to persevere is a call to be renewed, not to be stagnant. Praise God.

I recently read about 2 people that had great callings in their lives. (Note: this was the part that I lost inspiration on just now, hope I fare better this time around). They are Samson and Paul. Samson was the judge who would deliver his people from the Philistines. Paul's calling was to bring the Good News to the Gentiles, to the Jews, and to kings. Both callings were explicitly written in the bible. Both had experiences that were more to shameful than to be proud of. But in the end both "ran the good race" and accomplished what they were destined for. Awesome.

Do not be mistaken that you need a vision (as in the dream-sort) from God for a calling. God has spoken through His word. Making disciples and baptising them, to name a few. But if you do get that specific calling, pursue it vigorously for we are responsible for that passion. As James wrote, "Show me your faith without actions, and I will show you my faith with actions."

What is my calling? One word: ENCOURAGEMENT. Ironically, this is what Pastor Dave preached on this morning in church. God is funny but interesting.. and His timing far exceeds Perfection.

I pray, my brothers and sisters, that as you move closer to the fulfillment of your calling, you will be feeling like how I feel after completing this blog: looking back, smilling and praising your Creator.

One last thing, it is your calling but never your call. To believe is to obey :)