Obedience to God's voice confers a power that assures success.
On the occasion of the International Conference on health care, the new President of West-Central Africa Division, Pastor Elie WEICK, delivered this Sabbath August 29, 2015, in Bethel Temple, a message entitled "The power of the call".
Through this message, he said to the audience that there is a power in the call of God that drives us to abandon everything: that call separates us from sin and our old life, it leads us to leave our parents and friends, causes us to give up our projects and personal objectives, to be God's voice near the sick, the wretched, and those who are possessed by evil spirits.
The key verse of the message was taken from the Gospel of Mathieu chapter 4, from verses 17 to 22.
«17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
When God calls us something moves us from within. Some call it the ultimate test or the essence of life.
We are all called by God. And this call must surpass all others desires. When it comes to eating or sleeping, you surrender everything to the Lord. If we yield to the Lord, His call will have a spiritual meaning to us.
No matter who we are and what we do, we need to realize that God is calling us.
My prayer is that we shouldn’t build our life on frivolity and things without importance.
Jesus called people who didn't represent anything to become his friends and his messengers. They had to be close to him to know his revelation and pursue his actions and mission, but also experience his suffering. The greatness of the mission depended on the seriousness and the importance that they granted to the call.
Peter and his brothers were illiterates, their life was filled with prejudices and superstitions; but Jesus' call made them free from all. Their lives were from then submitted to Him.
We can imagine how ridiculous they looked when they told their parents, friends and acquaintances that they abandoned their nets to follow a roving preacher who was considered as a mad.
The call of the Lord is strange. God's call causes challenges. The first challenge is the separation.
Rom1:1 «Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God»
The challenge of separation is very alarming for the one who is called. The call separates us from our friends, parents and leads us to the unknown.
We lose the assurance and the confidence in ourselves. We face deep waters.
The call separates us from worldly objectives and stops us from taking care of our own flesh; the worldly business that before captivated us doesn't have a sense anymore. We become a chosen channel, full of hope to encourage others.
The second challenge of the call is self-denial
In Jesus, we are called to total allegiance. The secret of all success is total allegiance.
We must watch over our appetites and our passions. When we don't control our appetites, they dominate us, control our soul and lead us to defeat.
But if on the contrary, we expose ourselves to the thirst and hunger of revival, the spiritual desires, we can accomplish a lot for the Lord. The call to let the nets filled the life of Peter and his brothers; they forgot they were fishermen.
We are worried to meet the needs of our families and we refuse God's call.
We need to commit ourselves to God and live a life of obedience and sacrifice to have a success.
Four Adventists physicians were working in Sierra-Leone when the Ebola virus Disease appeared there. They were asked to leave the place but they refused. Their call was to take care of others’ life. They remained there and another physician even joined them. They were deeply moved by their call.
There is power in the call.
Ellen White said" through his servants, God wants the sick, the wretched and those that are possessed by evil spirits, to hear his voice; Through his human agents, He wants to be a comforter such as the world has ever known". Ministry of Healing. p.83
You may all have personal life goals, but if you have not understood your call, you live for nothing.
This life calls us to serve God and others. Then our life will be fully filled of God's voice for the good of the humanity.
God calls us to serve humanity with devotion, self-denial and sincerity. Jesus will therefore say to us: "good and faithful servants enter in your master's joy".