I really identified with this passage from today's Utmost, and I wanted to keep a record of it. Regarding the first statement, it is true, but when I first read it, I was taken aback, because I didn't realize that yes, my calling was not definitive. While I have considered the time when Christ came to me in 2011 to be when I was chosen, that really wasn't the time where he called me, even though he said, "Come". The truth is, it happened a few years before that. And I can't remember when exactly, or how, or of course, even why, but I can remember reading the back of my first Missal, given to be before I was anointed, confirmed, and baptised, it read the verse, "Chosen in Christ". And though I do not know it's exact moment, I do know that like Paul, when I was initiated into the Church, all other interests - philosophy, political science, and yoga, were no longer suitable to take any of my energy.
"If you are able to tell exactly where you were when you received the call of God and can explain all about it, I question whether you have truly been called. The call of God does not come like that; it is much more supernatural...At any moment the sudden awareness of this incalculable, supernatural, surprising call that has taken hold of your life may break through— “I chose you…” (John 15:16)...You are not called to preach the gospel because you are sanctified; the call to preach the gospel is infinitely different. Paul describes it as a compulsion that was placed upon him. If you have ignored, and thereby removed, the great supernatural call of God in your life, take a review of your circumstances. See where you have put your own ideas of service or your particular abilities ahead of the call of God. Paul said, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” He had become aware of the call of God, and his compulsion to “preach the gospel” was so strong that nothing else was any longer even a competitor for his strength...God orchestrates every force at work for His purpose in the end. If you will agree with God’s purpose, He will bring not only your conscious level but also all the deeper levels of your life, which you yourself cannot reach, into perfect harmony."
Comments
Post a Comment