Some people, like TB Joshua, are fortunate not only to receive their calling from God at an early age but also know with certainty that they are ready to serve God as He wishes. For others, feeling the call can be an experience that brings mixed emotions.
TB Joshua Responds to Calling
On the one hand, to know that you are being asked to serve His purpose can be a humbling and exciting moment. On the other, there may also be a sense of doubt or uncertainty. They may be concerned that they cannot respond to God’s call for any number of reasons.
There are, at times, reasons why you may truly not be able to respond to your calling. However, you owe it to yourself to reflect very carefully before deciding that you cannot do what God is asking of you to make sure that fear or a sense of inadequacy is not at the root of your reluctance.
Overcoming Fear
There are many ways to serve God, and it is true that some of the paths he asks us to set our feet upon are more difficult than others. Sometimes we are asked to serve Him in places far away from family and friends and all that is familiar. These places may be uncomfortable – hot, remote, impoverished and under-developed.
In the face of these challenges, we may be more inclined to imagine reasons why we cannot respond to the call. We may, however, simply be afraid – afraid of a more difficult and uncomfortable life, or afraid that we don’t “have the stuff” it will take to succeed in this new task. It is important to know that while these fears are understandable, they are not a reason to remain deaf to the call.
TB Joshua says God places challenges before us that we can meet with prayer, support, and a willingness to rise to those challenges as a means of deepening our relationship with Him.
Submitting to His Will
Perhaps it is not fear that keeps us from responding to God’s call, but a reluctance to accept the path that God has called us to because we have other things we would rather be doing, or another sense of how we can better contribute. Perhaps we imagined that we would be leading a mission, preaching, working with disadvantaged youth, or making some other contribution that has little in common with what God is calling us to do. This can be a difficult thing to accept, but God has a plan for each of us that is not for any of us to question.
Submitting to God’s will may require us to learn humility but will deepen our relationship with Him at the same time.
If you are not sure how, when or if you should respond to God’s call to serve, be sure to examine the source of your reluctance. Above all, TB Joshua says remember that if God calls, He will be sure that you will be able to respond!
