Inherited Craftsmanship - Developing into what we are not yet
In contrast to the lack of enjoyment and fulfilment reported by so many, if the following statements all hold true…
God is persistent in His communication with men and women;
Each person is uniquely fashioned and He tailors His handling and guidance of each one accordingly;
There are links between a person’s calling and his/her identity;
God’s application of grace to each individual is both relentless and prudent;
…then God is committed to matching what He gives us to do to our unique personhood and thus, following God’s calls will be the surest route to finding our ‘element’. It is therefore no surprise that, at various times in our lives, we have moments of epiphany that seem to provide a clue to our purpose. Those moments are usually accompanied by a great longing to fulfil that purpose.
Since all callings come by revelation, we must learn both how to hear God for ourselves and how to develop a process of testing and confirmation. As we take courage and learn to listen, we will find that 'He is there and He is not silent' [F Schaeffer].
When He speaks, God usually calls things into being that are not yet fully formed. We must, therefore, develop into what we are not yet and we must often acquire new skills. Special doses of grace will always follow a call because, inevitably, a change-process is required and God is committed both to the sanctification and the ‘continuous personal and professional development’ of His sons and daughters.
In the Christian world, too few people attest to God speaking to them on a regular basis to direct them to what they should do, the projects they should take on, the tasks they should perform. Very few can testify to having pursued a vocational ‘calling’. Not enough can testify to God having given them one or more strategically important tasks, as they’ve sought Him to make them useful.
If God’s purposes depend in part on our being willing to heed His calls and we don’t do so, then tasks that He intended to be performed in a unique fashion will not be performed in that way and possibly not at all. He has amazingly creative ways of getting the job done but He wants you and I to be part of it and there are elements of what we each contribute that cannot be provided by anyone else.
Each individual is limited in what he/she can achieve and God’s intention is that each operates according to the permissions given and within the sphere of influence to which they’ve been assigned. If each one is free to hear God for themselves and both to test and to fulfil their ‘callings’ in an appropriate (church) context, God will enable the respective callings to dovetail together. There are therefore implications for our understanding of ‘the body’ and for the outworking of God’s purposes corporately.
