So God chooses people throughout the scripture to be prophets, priests, deliverers and leaders. They are not chosen by the normal human methods. They are chosen as a result of His sovereignty.
But how should people respond when the Lord calls them? How would you respond?
Let’s look at how Elisha responded tot he call of God when God chose him to be the next MASTER PROPHET of the SONS OF THE PROPHETS.
1 Kings19:19 So he (Elijah) departed from there, and FOUND ELISHA THE SON OF SHAPHAT, WHO WAS PLOUGHING WITH TWELVE YOKE OF OXEN before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and THREW HIS MANTLE ON HIM.
20 And he LEFT THE OXEN AND RAN AFTER ELIJAH, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”
And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”
21 So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and GAVE IT TO THE PEOPLE, and they ate. Then HE AROSE AND FOLLOWED ELIJAH, AND BECAME HIS SERVANT.
Elisha ‘burned his bridges’ (his livelihood) and followed after Elisha and became his servant. His new life had just begun.
How would you have responded? Would you have responded like Elisha?
Will you respond like Elisha when the Lord calls you? It’s a challenge isn’t it?
Oh we have been praying for years for the Lord to use us in preaching the gospel to the nations. We pray for the Lord to anoint us so that we can be like Elijah or Ellisha, or Ruth or Deborah, or King David, or Jeremiah or Paul the apostle.
But when He does answer our prayer and calls us, how do we respond?
“Ah Lord, it’s rather inconvenient just at the moment”.
“My children are in private school, could we wait a few years?”
“Lord I am saving for a house and I nearly have the deposit saved up.”
“Lord could you wait for me while I get my degree?”
“I haven’t enough for the plane fare.”
“ Once I am healed, I’ll go.”
“House prices will be better one year from now.”
Hmm. How did Elisha respond?
He immediately burned his entire means of potential livelihood and followed the MASTER PROPHET.
And what was his attitude now that he had been chosen by God as the next MASTER PROPHET.
“Well Lord, now that you have chosen me I want to be famous.”
I’d like a new suit.”
“How much will you pay me?”
“I’ll work for you if I get paid $x.”
“I’d like my name in lights next to the name of the man who called me”.
Is that what Elijah did?
Nope.
Then HE AROSE AND FOLLOWED ELIJAH, AND BECAME HIS SERVANT.
Are you ready for this type of humble lifestyle when you are called to be the NEXT MASTER PROPHET?
For sure, humility is the precursor to the fulness of the call of God.
Next time we will look at What can the NEW MASTER PROPHET expect in his new job.
What do you think of the attitudes of some people when they say that they have been called by God.