Facing Giants

Good Morning,

Ephesians 4:1-2 (NIV)
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Numbers 13:28 (TEV)
The people who live [in Canaan] are powerful, and their cities are very large and well fortified. Even worse, we saw the descendants of the giants there.

At our congregation last week Pastor Bryan spoke of "The Called" and "The Calling." As I hope that we are all aware, those of us who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior are "called" by Him. In addition, we also have a "calling," that is...some work, some purpose that has been given to us by God that we are to take on and give our labors to.

Paul tells us in Ephesians that we should be living "a life worthy of the calling you have received." That's pretty powerful, I think. We are to be people who are humble, gentle, patient, and who bear with each other (put up with each other?) in true love, the love that models God's love for us. I'm pretty sure what we're aware of these facts. I mean, we know that God has called us and, I believe, we are aware that we have some special calling that God has put upon us. We don't need to go into detailed, long, dogmatic explanations of those things. I think, deep down inside, we know...we are fully aware.

The challenge is actually fulfilling our calling; going out and DOING what it is we've been called to do by God. Unfortunately, too many of us simply don't go out and do what we really know we should be doing. I wondered why. Then, as God often does, He sent along two unrelated verses to help me understand. That first, in Ephesians, we've already discussed. The second, in Numbers, sort of gives us the "why" of our difficulties in carrying out our purpose, our calling.

You see, just as the Israelite spies thought that they faced impossible odds entering the Promised Land, we also face some challenges along the way in carrying out our purpose and calling. We see in our way "cities...very large and well fortified" which stand in our way and present obstacles in doing what we feel we should be doing. Then, if that isn't enough, many of us face "the descendants of the giants" in our way which stand as impediments to our work.

So, I ask you now: Do you want to be like the millions of Israelites who didn't want to face these obstructions? Or, rather, would you more rather wish to be like Caleb who argued that they should go and face whatever difficulties might come into their way and enter their Promised Land?

Yes, in carrying out whatever calling God has placed upon each of us, we will face various road blocks and hindrances. So, when that happens, we can choose to be like the majority of the Jews and wander around in a "desert" for an extended period of time. Or, we can choose to be like Caleb and be willing to face, and overcome, any stumbling blocks and hurdles that come into our way.

Will it be easy to fulfill our calling? For some, the it will NOT be easy...nor simple...to accomplish that which God has set before them. That's when we call on God to help us and to each other to lift us up above any hindrances that come our way.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David