Praying for Consciousness of Our Call

 I'm continuing my journey through the very challenging devotional, My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, and I have to tell you, today's post was very interesting.  It is called, "The Awareness of the Call."  It is based on 1 Corinthians 9:16,

 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

Chambers' meditations revolve specifically around the last part of the verse: "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!"  This is Paul's statement on his own position as a preacher.  The Apostle explains how he has a drive to proclaim the gospel that doesn't come from himself.  He is "compelled to preach."  In other words, he is forcibly driven to do this by something else or rather, Someone else who is the One applying that force.  That's why he cannot boast.  And that driving force is so powerful and Paul is so dependent on the sustenance from that Force that he calls in damnation upon himself if he does not deliver.

Chambers' perspective is that what Paul is talking about here refers to God's supernatural call to the believer.  He says it is not just an inclination we feel or a desire that may come up out of the gifts we have been endowed with or out of the skills we may possess.  According to Chambers, this call that is causing Paul to say aloud: Woe to me! goes way beyond all that.  It comes from God's deeply spiritual and supernatural touch.  And that's why it is so compelling that we can't say no.

He says it is so supernatural and divine that, "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."

He says, the type of call Paul is talking about here, is "inexpressible," "incalculable" and "surprising."  It contains God's personal choosing of a specific person, so, of course it is supernatural and unexplainable.  That's why Paul says it is a compulsion that was put upon him by the One to whom nothing can be denied.

Chambers continues saying how Paul "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."

I think about my own journey with Jesus.  I feel so convicted and guilty for not being obedient and neglecting the great commission to go and make disciples, that often I feel like Woe is coming to me.  I worry I've missed the call entirely because I'm so worldly focused and so concerned about my circumstances.  But, reading and re-reading what Chamber is saying has made me pause and contemplate: am I really conscious or fully aware of God's call to me?  Obviously, Paul had a realization of what his role was supposed to be in the Kingdom of God.  Do I have that realization?  I don't think I do.  I don't know if God has given me that revelation which will activate His driving force in me yet.  I believe He is giving me nudges. Like Chambers says, sometimes , "the realization of the call in a person’s life may come like a clap of thunder or it may dawn gradually. But however quickly or slowly this awareness comes, it is always accompanied with an undercurrent of the supernatural."  I think I might still be on the installment plan...that makes the realization dawn gradually.

Whatever it is, though, I'm feeling encouraged that I might have not totally messed up my chance to fulfill God's call for my life.  After all, I'm still here, right?  And as long as I still have breath in my longs and a beat in my heart, I have hope.  Like Chambers concludes:

"If a man or woman is called of God, it doesn’t matter how difficult the circumstances may be. 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."

So, today, in this beautiful autumn afternoon, I pray the Holy Spirit will give me and you the awareness, the conscious level that we need to reach the perfect harmony that we cannot reach by ourselves, which will allow us to agree with God's purpose for our lives in that supernatural way that will compel us to do His will...no matter what...so there's no Woe to us.  In Jesus' Precious Name.  Amen!