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See January 26, 2009, for the first writing in this series on divine calling, or vocation.
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Scripture for Today
13 Until I come, continue to read the Scriptures to the people, strengthen them, and teach them.14 Use the gift you have, which was given to you through prophecy when the group of elders laid their hands on you.15 Continue to do those things; give your life to doing them so your progress may be seen by everyone.
*I Timothy 4.13-15 (NCV)
Reflect prayerfully on the above Scripture before continuing with reading this meditation. Ask yourself such questions as:
What is the spiritual gift I have? How has God confirmed that gift to me? How do other persons see my progress in fulfilling a divine calling given me? Have I allowed the community of faith I worship with publically to confirm that calling upon my life? If so, how?
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I share a story exemplifying our theme for today: Often a personal crisis precedes receiving a divine call. The story is from the Baptist Press.
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Ever since he accepted Jesus as his Savior in the spring of 1994, Jim White knew he had been called to preach. But he didn't surrender until he felt like lightning struck him.
It happened several months ago during a spring revival at Chaplin Fork (Ky.) Baptist Church. White, who became the church's youth pastor last April, had just led a young man in the sinner's prayer. Continuing the invitation, the evangelist urged others to come to the altar. He concluded, "Maybe you're being called into the ministry."
"When he said that, I felt like a lightning bolt shot through the pew and I went forward," said White, 41, who has worked as a carpenter but is considering becoming an evangelist.
Sheri (his wife) and I had been talking about it that night. “She told me it was like waiting to have a kid. If you wait for the perfect time, it'll never happen. You just have to put it in the Lord's hands."
A man led into evangelism may not sound that unusual in church circles. But White's conversion and call starkly contrast with recent drug abuse and marital problems. They led his wife to file for a court restraining order against him in March of last year.
The action followed 14 years of marriage punctuated by frequent quarrels over insignificant issues.
They were an unlikely match from the beginning: an Army baby born in Fort Knox and the daughter of an airline pilot who grew up in southern California's urban sprawl.
"He was different," said Sheri, a trim 35-year-old redhead, of their meeting on a double date. "He was very caring and thoughtful. He sent me flowers. I had never experienced that. Everything clicked."
"Initially, there was the physical attraction," Jim said. "But it was also her intelligence and good wit. There's been a lot of good times in our relationship. It was like 100 pounds of love and two ounces of cobra venom."
The poison struck right before the wedding. He forgot their marriage license appointment. She showed up at his workplace, swinging her purse. Later they laughed it off.
Soon the Whites moved to the Chaplin, Ky., area midway between Louisville and Lexington. But fights erupted again over issues like who would wash the dishes or who left the cap off the toothpaste.
"I would overreact because I was a spoiled brat," Sheri says. "When I didn't get my way, I exploded." And Jim struck back, sometimes leaving black eyes or bruises on her and holes in the walls.
Life heaped on stress, too. The first six years together they faced various family deaths, illnesses and job losses. Then Jim hurt his hand in an accident, and after it healed he couldn't find jobs that paid more than $5 an hour.
He stayed home when Erik was born in 1987; three more children followed over five years, including a set of twins. Meanwhile, Sheri's college degree earned her a breadwinner's position as an Internal Revenue Service auditor.
The role reversal didn't sit well with Jim, who especially resented his inability to become a professional guitarist. He had forsaken everything else to fulfill that dream. Now he had to face the bitter truth. His destiny lay in shaping wood instead of music.
To cope with those feelings, he smoked ever-increasing amounts of marijuana. Right before Sheri's legal action, he popped pills and threatened suicide.
However, the court order served as a wake-up call. On the advice of his mother, a member of the Chaplin Fork church, Jim sought counseling from pastor Tom Knight. Thanks to pastoral visits, late-night calls and Scripture study, the pattern of his life changed. Knight started visiting Sheri, too, encouraging her to turn back to the Lord she had known in childhood.
Both began attending church, but since the court order prohibited any contact, they went on alternate Sundays. At last year's spring revival, Sheri's resistance broke first, prompted by a message about a personal relationship with Christ.
Meanwhile, though progressing, Jim struggled mightily. He calmed the turmoil with booze. Early one morning, he walked outside with a bottle when a strange feeling overtook him. "I realized I wasn't letting go. I poured out the vodka on the ground, got on my knees and said, 'God, take over. You know what's in my heart. Take over.'"
In a matter of days, the Whites were reunited. Eyebrows raised when the family showed up together at Chaplin Fork one Sunday. The reunion sparked a mini-revival. Instead of sagging, attendance last summer increased from the mid-30s to the high-40s. Today it averages close to 60.
Over the past year, Knight has watched a pastor's heart develop in Jim, expressed through a deep concern for others and a desire to fulfill the Great Commission. And, he said, White is very popular with the teenagers.
"One of their biggest compliments is they say he understands who they are and is non-judgmental, but also non-compromising about the truth," Knight said. "They're in love with him. If it was up to them, he would be making a million dollars a year."
White has filled in several times for Knight and preached at two other churches. He also was asked to lead a tent revival. One neighboring congregation was impressed enough to ask him to come back for a second visit. "Everything I've heard has been real positive," said pastor Jeff Fuller. "He has communicated well what he wanted to say. Our folks enjoy hearing him."
Though he doesn't know exactly where the Lord will lead, White said the difference between today and 19 months ago is like night and day. "Sometimes I could kick myself for wasting so many years with drugs, alcohol and all that nonsense," he said. "I could have been doing something better."
Copyright (c) 1995 Baptist Press
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A crisis is not merely something to resolve, to get life back to normal. A crisis is opportunity to ask anew: "What, God, in this are you trying to teach me? Say to me? Are or you using this to lead me in a new direction? Do a new thing?"
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Are you in a crisis? Go into silence. Center yourself in openness to the Spirit of Christ within you. Pose questions of "What...? and "Why?" ... A sample is: "God, where are you in this ...? What are you wanting to say to me through this...?" Have a time of listening in silence. God may speak through scripture, images, intuition, memories of personal experience, ...
After completing this time, reflect on what you sense God may have been saying to you. You may wish to call a friend to share what you sensed in the discernment prayer.
If you did not sense anything, you may sometime after the prayer, as you go on with your regular activities. The Holy Spirit has many ways to speak to us, and sometimes it happens outside prayer, but prepared for by our being constant in prayer. Blessings!
Peace!
Brian K. Wilcox
Ordained Pastor, Christ Community UMC, Punta Gorda, FL
Ordained Oblate, Greenbough House of Prayer
*Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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*Charitable contributions would be appreciated to assist Brian in continuing his ministry. For contributions, contact Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
*Brian's book of spiritual love poetry, An Ache for Union: Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major booksellers or the Cokesbury on-line store, cokesbury.com .
*Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist Pastor, lives in Southwest Florida. He is a vowed member of Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in South Georgia. He lives a contemplative life and seeks to inspire others to enjoy a more intimate relationship with Christ. Brian advocates for a spiritually-focused, experiential Christianity and renewal of the Church through addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons.
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