The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
When I was in my late thirties, I was stunned to be asked to assume a major leadership role in a faith-based regional organization in New England. I had every reason to turn the position down: three young children at home, significant responsibilities at the church my husband pastored, and zero experience in fundraising.
The only thing that kept me from an immediate no was the tremendous respect I carried for the organization and its executive leadership. They had determined through prayer that God had chosen me, so I reluctantly agreed to pray about it.
In my deep-rooted insecurity, I felt they deserved someone far more qualified than I was. I searched the Scriptures, looking for confirmation that this call was not from God.
But as I read the stories of Moses, Jeremiah, Gideon, and Mary of Nazareth, a pattern began to emerge. None had sought a position of prominence in God’s service. In fact, each one recognized his or her own inadequacy. But despite their lack of self-confidence, these servants were receptive to God’s voice and ultimately responded to the promise of his presence. God himself would supply what they lacked.
Can you identify?
Perhaps you’re a reluctant leader too, willing but cautious. Or maybe you gladly embraced God’s call on your life years ago. I’ve had to learn that when God calls, he doesn’t muffle his voice. If you’re willing to be useful in his hands, you can be confident that he won’t waste the gifts he’s already entrusted to you.
As an example of what God supplies to those he chooses to be leaders, read the story in 1 Samuel 10 of Saul’s anointing as Israel’s first king. Working through the prophet Samuel, God anointed Saul, empowered him by the Spirit, and granted the authority he would need. He also provided “valiant men” to go with Saul, others whose hearts God had touched.
What more did Saul need to succeed? What more do we need than to know God is with us and has promised to equip us to carry out what he’s called us to do?
Calling is ultimately about following, not leading. If you know when you turn in at night that you walked with Jesus, even if you accomplished nothing else, it’s not been a wasted day.
Confidence in our calling is based on our identity in Christ. When we know who we are in him, we can be secure whatever our activity level, wherever we find ourselves, however our efforts appear to others. Calling is not about accomplishments, status, and titles but about remaining in relationship with the one we serve.
Great leaders know this. I once was asked to introduce Jill Briscoe, a nationally known speaker, at a large conference. In the first session, I enthusiastically recited Jill’s résumé, including the titles of most of the forty-plus books she’s written. As I sat down, she reached over and patted my hand. “That was very well, dear,” she murmured, “but next time you can simply say, ‘And here is Mrs. Briscoe.’”
You might be an emerging leader, an established one, or—like me—one with fewer years of service remaining than the ones already spent. But whatever season of life you’re in, God will not leave you without significant work to do. No one else is qualified to live your life’s calling.
In his book Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference, Max Lucado writes,
“Complete with summers and songs and gray skies and tears, you have a life. Didn’t request one, but you have one. A first day. A final day. And a few thousand in between. . . . You’ve been given your life. No one else has your version. You’ll never bump into yourself on the sidewalk. You’ll never meet anyone who has your exact blend of lineage, loves, and longings. . . . You’re not a jacket in the attic that can be recycled after you are gone.”
Are you feeling inadequate about the responsibilities you’re carrying? Feeling unequal to the tasks you’ve been given? Me too. (Even now, on the shady side of sixty-five.)
Our confidence must never be in ourselves. It can’t be, because we’ll blow it time and time again. But what God has declared good is good enough for the work he has called you to (Genesis 1:31).
That position I was offered decades ago? Honestly, I wasn’t happy about it at first. There was nothing in it I wanted or thought I needed. I said so to God.
But you know what? I accepted the position, and it changed the course of the rest of my life. I would have missed rich years of regional service and the opportunity to work with anointed fellow servants if I’d succumbed to my fears of failure and declined the responsibility. I am ever so thankful I said yes.
May you, too, have confidence in your calling that comes straight from the Father, who loves and equips you.
*This is an excerpt from This Life We Share by Maggie Wallem Rowe. Copyright © 2020. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Follow Maggie’s posts at www.MaggieRowe.com.
This Life We Share is a woman’s guide to living well—from the inner journey of dealing with anxiety and insecurity to the everyday moments of waiting and distraction to practical principles for parenting, grandparenting, and aging. Jesus once said of the woman who anointed his feet, “She did what she could” (Mark 14:8, NIV)—and that is the goal of this book: to provide insights and wisdom for walking through life with the confidence that you’re doing “what you can” to live well for God, love others, and take care of yourself.
