Learning to Listen to the Voice that calls
My aim in these articles is to bring clarity and understanding concerning the call of God to vocational ministry to individuals of his choosing. I want to bring clarity and understanding to the people in the pew as well as people in the pulpit. I recognize that for those who have never experienced the call, there is a limit to their understanding, and naturally so. Nevertheless, I think it is an overall benefit to mission and ministry of the church anytime we can create a greater understanding between the pew and the pulpit.
My hope, also, is that these articles will help those who are sensing a call of God to vocational ministry. This was the subject of the February article. Sensing God’s call to vocational ministry is not the equivalent of receiving God’s call. If the sensing grows stronger over time, at some point the individual sensing the call needs to seek God for some clarity. He or she needs to pray earnestly, listening intently, and wait patiently for the Lord to speak clearly and authoritatively.
This approach is so very essential. This is not to say, however, that God’s approach to calling a person to vocational ministry cannot be sudden and surprising. The biblical examples are significant with the likes of Moses, Isaiah, and Paul. Sometimes God uses the shock and awe approach, sometimes the gentle whisper. Sticking with biblical examples, there were times when God used his angelic messengers to issue his call or to give specific assignments to certain people, such as Gideon in Judges 6.
It appears to me that the shock and awe manner of God’s calling is reserved for those well into adulthood and engaged in other pursuits and livelihoods and need a shocking display of God’s awesome presence to stop them in their tracks and hear his voice. I’d certainly put Moses and the burning bush and Saul on the Damascus Road in that category. Adults are often less sensitive to subtleties and nuances than children and teens. That’s what God taught Elijah at the mouth of the cave.
In one of the small groups of pastors that I facilitate, we were discussing the call to ministry. Several men shared their call experience. One of them was a recently retired pastor who received a clear call of God while working a terrible wreck scene as a 40-something-year-old sheriff’s deputy. He was a committed Christian and loved his job in law enforcement, but this incident shook him to the core. It was a gruesome wreckage of a scene with several casualties. But inside the twisted and smoking pile of rubble there was an infant in the backseat without so much as a scratch or a bruise. He knew what he saw was a miracle. It was in that moment that God spoke to him loudly and clearly saying, “Son, if you believe in miracles, then I’m calling you to proclaim the Good News that Jesus saves sinners from the wreck they make of their lives” (paraphrased). My friend didn’t need any clarification. He understood his call. He soon resigned his badge and moved his family out-of-state to attend seminary to prepare for ministry.
When it comes to the way God calls those in the pre-adult stages of life, he very carefully, gently, and wisely begins to work in their hearts and to impress upon their tender souls a sense of his purpose for their lives. He does this progressively over time, using parents and others of influence to guide them and teach them the Word and the ways of God. He always considers their personalities, level of maturity, and understanding. For various reasons, children and teens usually need to develop a sense of call before they receive the clarion call of God.
One reason for this progressive calling is to teach young people the need to seek the Lord in his Word and in prayer. This is how we all learn to recognize the voice of God. We talk to God. We listen for his reply. We ask questions. We listen for his reply. We see this in the early life of Samuel. Samuel was dedicated to the Lord by his parents before he was born. When he was old enough, he went to live with Eli the priest at Shiloh.
Samuel literally grew up in the church. This was the period of the Judges, and at that time the Tabernacle was in Shiloh. Samuel was like an acolyte to Eli, the old priest at Shiloh, but he had not yet been called to serve as a Judge or prophet of God. His was still very young. All that changed in one night as Samuel heard a voice calling his name. Not knowing it was the Lord, he ran to Eli, and Eli told him to go back to bed. This happened a second time. Same thing. The third time, Eli got wise and told Samuel that it must be the Lord calling. The counsel he gave the boy is great wisdom: “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” The Scripture describes the compliant and obedient character of this young servant, saying, “So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (I Samuel 3:8b-10).
Learning to listen for that voice, to recognize it, and to respond compliantly to it is the pattern of progression that will at the right time result in the clarion call of God to those chosen to serve him in the various dimensions of vocational ministry.