What is Yours to be Doing?

What is Yours to be Doing?

by David Brenneman 

I don't want to run from the will of God. 

I don't want to hide or hoard what He's giving me to do with what He's given me.

"for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." Romans 11:29.

"The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.  The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.  Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.  So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”  Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.  Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”  He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”  Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.  So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.  He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”  However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them.  Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”  So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.  Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.  And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights." Jonah 1:1-17.

"That can't be right!"  

"There's no way!"

"I can't do that!"

"I'm not going to be going there!"

Reread that first chapter of the book of Jonah.  Go read the book of Judges.  

There is always something special for all who are truly saved in Christ Jesus to be doing that was appointed unto them the moment they were saved.  There IS a calling in your life that is probably going to be bigger than you that's going to require your life in Christ to be on your A Game.  

"Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;  if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;  or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness." Romans 12:6-8.

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.  There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.  But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;  to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills." 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.

"Oh I have tried and I just couldn't do it!" 

My Dear Reader it's through the Spirit that you do what is yours to be doing.  You're not going to accomplish what's yours to be doing in your own understanding, your own standards, your own strength.  

Look at when the people of Israel were originally told of entering the Promised Land.  The Lord would go ahead of them and He would make a way where there was no way.  Yet because of their disobedience the Lord told them no they were not crossing over.  Their descendants would.  Some, in the stubbornness of their hearts, ran headlong across to the Promised Land without the Lord and were routed.  Turned back.  Had they believed the report of Joshua and Caleb the Lord would have kept His promise to clear the way.  Decades later the descendants of those rebellious people easily crossed over and watched as the hand of God gave them the land one city at a time. 

There is indeed something for you to be doing that's not going to be something that you will be able to easily lay claim as having been done by your own strength and your own power.  It's going to be empowered by the Spirit of God. 

Yours could be anything thats unique to you or yours could be similar to some others in Christ.  Yours could truly be to put you on the path to being the next Billy Graham.  Yours could be to be a behind the scenes prayer warrior.  The point being there are NO useless body parts in the body of Christ.  A part of a body that mimics the body but does nothing for it is a cancer or virus.  Which is why being sure of your salvation is vital.  

Jesus Himself said that there will be many people who will be told to depart from Me for I never knew you.  People who thought they were saved but were not, even doing the same type of work of God as true Believers.  Know of several testimonials of people who actually were already Pastors who actually came to Christ after a Promise Keeper event.  

I have often gone back and forth as to what my calling is about in Christ.   Keep thinking there must be something more than what I am doing.  Currently my ministry with this blog appears to be it.  I get up earlier than most and read my Bible and a devotional.  I set out to write about whatever God lays on my heart to write.  I post it and go on with my day, doing whatever He puts in front of me to be doing.  Me, on my part, try to follow Colossians 3:23-24.  God, on His part, takes the blog all over the world.  Going places and touching lives where I could never go.  Whether there's something more for me to be doing, time will tell.  I pray about it and await whatever the answer may be.

You, my Dear Reader, are not exempt from your calling in Christ.  

You, my Dear Reader, have something to be doing in this world that's bigger than you in Christ. 

Your gifts and calling from God is irrevocable.  It's for you to be doing. 

While there were 12 Disciples who became Apostles all had a different calling in Christ.  A 13th, Paul, was an Apostle unto the world outside of Israel.  Writing most of the New Testament. 

Pray about whatever it is you are to be doing.  Step out of the boat and onto the water when told to.  Don't get ahead of the Spirit.  I did and it took me decades to come back around.  The scars are still fresh from my wayward days.  

Don't compare what is for you to be doing in Christ with what He's given others to be doing.  

The Scriptures say that each of us will give an account of our lives before Jesus.  Each.  Not as a group.  

Do pray about it and then when you are sure, do with all your heart. 

If God's behind your calling, you cannot fail at it.  If He's not, then you'll not succeed or your success will not at all be what it would have been.  

God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. 

Pray. Seek to know. Do. Repeat.

All New American Standard Bible Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. A corporation not for profit.