A Unique Calling

Ever have one of those Sundays where it seems like everything that is preached or taught seems to hit you with the same truth over and over?

A few weeks ago, I had one of those days. Throughout the preaching in the morning and evening services, the songs we sang, and the music I listened to as I traveled to church and back, it all seemed to have the same theme.

It wasn’t as if the sermons were on the same topic, or the hymns chosen to dovetail with it, but it seemed like everything I heard or read that day repeated the same truth over and over: that God has a unique plan for each of His children.

So much of our discontent and angst springs from the comparison of our circumstances with those of others. We might think poutingly, “No one else has to…” and fill the blank with whatever it is we don’t like about the life God has called us to.

But our standard of truth is not “everyone else.”

 I was reading in Jeremiah recently and was struck by how God describes Jeremiah’s calling:

“Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

There are many examples of people whom God chose before they were born: Isaac and Jacob were both chosen to be the heirs of promise before they were born, Samson’s parents were told before he was born that he would deliver his people, John the Baptist had his ministry clearly delineated before his birth, and even the pagan king Cyrus was chosen by God to be the instrument of Israel’s return, and hundreds of years before he was born, at that!

We know that God is omniscient; that He knows all things, and that He is eternal, having always existed, so it shouldn’t be surprising to us that He would have a plan to use us for His glory and our good before we are even born.

And because God knows all things, He knows all about you and me, down to the tiniest detail. As Jesus put it,

“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:30)

And Psalm 139 gives a beautiful description of just how much God knows about each of us:

“O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast set me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me.” (vv.1-5)

God knows every detail of your life and mine. No wonder the psalmist follows this section up with the exclamation,

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” (v.6)

Since God knows every little detail about us, He gives us each a unique calling. No two people are exactly alike, and no two people’s calling is exactly alike. While our overarching purpose does not vary, (we are all called to glorify God) God calls each one of us to fulfill that calling in exactly the way He has designed for each one individually.

That is why comparison is so dangerous. We tend to think that because someone else’s circumstances are different than our own, they must be easier or pleasanter, but that’s not the case. God has specially designed your life and calling just for you out of a loving desire to see you fulfill His good, perfect, and acceptable will, and grow in Christlikeness. (Romans 12:2)

I am often reminded of Elisabeth Elliot’s statement, “God will not protect you from anything that will make you more like Jesus Christ.”

When we are tempted to complain about the uniqueness of God’s plan for our lives, it is important to remember that just as God will not “protect” us from anything which makes us more like Christ, He will also not “bless” us with anything that would hinder our growth in Christlikeness.

Your own unique trials, struggles, sorrows, and pain are given to you by the same loving hand of your Heavenly Father that bestows on you an abundance of joy, hope, peace, mercy, and of course, His all-sufficient grace.