has a greater impact
than that which one has to endure.
I would rather rejoice over being chosen to walk this road
than complain , "Why me?" .
When God calls us to service, He doesn't call us to paved roads and fine houses. Those things are our rewards in heaven: golden streets and beautiful mansions built by the Master Carpenter.
Instead God calls us to serve others. And He takes us out of our comfort zones to do it.
All of Jesus' disciples were working men. Of the first 12, some were fishermen. One collected taxes. One was a doctor. He did not call them to serve in the fields they had trained in. He called them to serve in His fields, doing His work. Matthew 10:6-8.
But the skills they had learned in their various trades, they were able to apply working in God's fields. He told the ones who fished that they would be "fishers of men". The doctor learned to heal the sick with the power and authority of Christ, not with the learned knowledge he had already acquired. He sent them without money, papers or supplies into the surrounding cities and communities. They learned what it means to exercise your faith.
Their personal principles came with them:
1. Obey the teacher, the master. Apprenticeship requires self-discipline.
2. Finish the work started. A job half-done is not done at all.
3. Apply yourself. Put your heart into it and your work will be recognized.
I have been called out of my comfort zone. I was trained by my parents to lead a good life. I was trained by my teachers to be a secretary (when I was in high school, they still had us studying gender specific skills). I was trained by my colleagues to be a good pharmacy technician. I ignored the good life and settled for less. I sucked at secretarial skills, but excelled at writing. I was a pretty good pharmacy tech for a few years. But then I got sick. And I hadn't been trained for that.
I have learned to exercise my faith. I have little to no money of my own now (soc. sec. dis.). I stutter when I have been speaking for more than a few minutes. And just speaking clearly is difficult (even people who know me make me repeat myself and I hate that). I am a licensed minister, but not an ordained one. My schooling was done through Pentecostal Church of God. My training is on-going. The self-discipline of living my life is now coming back around again.
Nobody is ever ready to suffer a major tragedy or lose their job because of a major illness. I am no exception. But when God calls us to service, He qualifies the unqualified. That's part of His job.
This is mine.
