Yes, I’ll go.
“God wanted you to be, so responding to his call is the secret to making the most of life, the key to the deepest relationships, the surest road to self-knowledge and unfolding purpose, the most challenging, enthralling, and natural way to live life, and the way to make the most of the great adventure that forms our days as humans in this world.” — The Call: Finding and Fulfilling God’s Purpose For Your Life by Os Guinness
It was the fall of 1980. Sonja and I were ready to volunteer to move to New York City to start a church. Within 24 hours, in a radical reversal, we learned we were moving to Saluda SC to pastor our first church.
It was 1985, Sonja and I were happily pastoring in New Ellenton. A late night phone call changed everything when we learned we had been appointed as pastor to the Simpsonville Church of God. (Without us even aware we were in the running!)
Run the clock up to 1995 and we were happily pastoring in Easley, SC until we came home from a lunch appointment and there was a message on our answering machine from my Bishop at the time which started the process of us moving to Fort Mill to be their new pastor.
Then there was the move to Mauldin, SC (How did that happen!?) And then a few years later on a cold December afternoon I learned I’d be moving to Bismarck, ND (in January!) and then about five years later I learned from an early morning call that I’d be moving to Illinois.
All this to say, God has places where He chooses for certain things to happen in your life and if you’re not willing to go there and be fully there then you will miss so much.
God has places where He chooses for certain things to happen and if you’re not willing to go there and be fully there then you will miss so much.
Think about Jesus…
Jesus had to be born in Bethlehem, it had been prophesied. But the people who were to make it happen lived far away in a little Galilean city called Nazareth.
For God’s will to be done they had to be willing to go to the place God had chosen, not the place they would have chosen.
And then there was the relocation to Egypt (Yikes!) and then back to Nazareth, and then to Capernaum and eventually to Jerusalem and finally to hill outside Jerusalem called Golgotha.
That’s how it works.
God’s got places and it is up to us to go to them.
Sitting in the pew won’t do.
Hanging out within driving distance of mom and apple pie won’t do.
Arriving home each night to your familiar chair and bed may not fit in with God’s plans.
Indoor plumbing and electricity may not be included in the place God has for you.
Comfort, familiarity, routine, family, friends, your favorite restaurant, and all the other things you hold so dear…they may not be there either.
But God’s got places and it is at those places that the next phase, the next stage, the next breakthrough, the next miracle will happen. And if you’re not there you’ll miss it.
Is that what you want?
It seems like just yesterday, but it was many years ago, on a quiet weekday afternoon in a little church in a little town where I knelt down in prayer and surrendered my life and will to God and said, “I’ll go.”
What a journey it’s been. I couldn’t have imagined I go to the places I’ve been and done the things I’ve done. And it hasn’t all been butterflies and bunnies. But I’d do it all again. Because I’ve learned that when you say “I’ll go” God goes with You and He leads you to places where He has special plans and He allows you to have a part in those plans.
And nothing in this life compares to that.
The ONE THING for today: “Yes, I’ll go.” That’s the only appropriate response for the called when the Caller calls.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
