God Calls us Out

It seems that when God wants to do something special in a person, or with a person, He often starts by bringing that person out from their ordinary circumstances in some way. Abram was brought out of his hometown and country, Joseph was sent away from his home into very difficult circumstances, and Moses was brought out of the royal family of Egypt into the boredom of a shepherd`s life in the desert. And the disciples Jesus called were led out from their comfort zone into the very challenging life of walking the countryside with Him.

Wouldn’t we rather have God deal with us and prepare us for days to come in the comfort of our normal setting, without us having to take all those steps into the unknown? Couldn´t God do the same things in Ur of the Chaldeans as He later did in the land of Canaan? And couldn´t Joseph have done the same work of saving the lives of people during the famine from his home town and his father´s house just as easily as from Egypt?

We do not always understand the reasons why God is doing certain things, not even afterwards, and that may upset us. We naturally want to know and understand, and ‘why’ is a word we often use towards God. Logic, reasoning and workable compromises are things we value, much more than the faith that sometimes seems both extreme and overdone.

But can you imagine Abram becoming the ‘father of faith’ without those experiences of difficult choices and daring decisions? And can you imagine the disciples becoming those men of God without first having let go of their fishing boats and daily occupations - without having been with Jesus on the dusty roads, on a stormy lake and in the garden of Gethsemane? As we read the stories of those men we quite soon see that the hardships were not meaningless events that just happened to them, but the much needed formative experiences that moulded them into godly characters.

If such things were needed for them what about us? Are we somehow born better prepared to serve the Lord? Are we more ready for the challenges of following Him than they were? No of course we’re not. But God has a desire to use us, as He used them! So He does prepare us in similar ways. He brings us out, He sets us apart, and He deals with us in ways we don’t always understand. But He understands, and that’s enough.

If today God’s bringing you out of something, He’s also bringing you into something. You may not like it at first, but He’s so faithful. Shepherd life in the desert may not have been very appealing to a Prince on the run, but it was an invaluable experience to a future deliverer of a whole nation. Betrayals, temptations and prison life were definitely not what a spoiled young man would desire, but that was the only way to prepare a man who would save thousands of lives in Egypt, and his own family as well, through wisdom and leadership.

Have you got it? God hasn’t forgotten you! When you think you’re just marking time God is growing your character. When you don´t see any meaning in what you’re going through God sees meaning in every detail. But you don´t have to know and understand, just trust Him who does! He is faithful!