Dear Ministry Partners,
When I was in Pakistan a couple of weeks ago, I was ministering at several pastors conferences where we trained 713 pastors and leaders from around the country (To read my blog and see pictures from this trip, click here). One day I spoke on the topic of fulfilling God’s calling for your life. After the service, one of the pastors came up to me crying and telling me how much my message impacted his life. He told me that he was about to quit the ministry and give up God’s calling for his life, but after hearing my message, he repented to God and told God he wasn’t going to give up on the ministry God had called him to.
You see, so often the enemy wants to get us off course. He wants to strip God’s calling from our lives and get us into doubting God and His will for our lives. God might have revealed His will for your life a long time ago, but so often when difficulty or discouragement comes, it’s easy to get our eyes off Jesus and onto our problems. As a result, we start doubting God and His plan for our lives.
If we want to fulfill God’s calling for our lives we must first know what God’s will is according to His Word. We must stand on His word and promises for our lives and we must keep our eyes focused on Jesus and not our problems. This couldn’t be illustrated better than in Matthew 14:27 when Peter saw Jesus walking on the water. Peter and the disciples were in a boat crossing over the sea when they saw Jesus walking on the water. The bible says they cried out in fear because they thought He was a ghost. Immediately, Jesus said, “Be of good cheer, it is I; do not be afraid”. Peter replied and said,” Lord, if it is You, then command me to come to You on the water”. Jesus replied with one life changing word – “Come”.
This is the heart of knowing God’s calling for your life. First we must understand what God’s will is and we can only find that by first knowing what His Word is. When Peter knew Jesus’ word was “Come”, then he could stand on that word and he could do that which was impossible. Our calling must be lined up with God’s will. God would never tell us to do anything that didn’t first line up with His word in the Bible. For instance, God would never tell you to hate your neighbor, when Jesus so clearly said in Mark 12:31, “you should love your neighbor as yourself.” If we want to know God’s calling for our lives, then we must first know what the Bible says and line our lives up with His Word. Remember, the devil wants nothing more than to kill, steal and destroy your life and calling. Therefore, we must be grounded in God’s Word (The Bible). Anything you believe God has spoken to you MUST line up with God’s word or you’ve not heard from God.
Next, if we want to fulfill God’s calling for our lives, we must stand on His Word. I often tell people that Peter didn’t walk on the water that day, but he actually walked on God’s word. Jesus said one word to Peter – “Come.” That one word was enough for Peter to do the miraculous. You see, Peter didn’t put his faith in the water holding him up, he put his faith in the Word (of God) that Jesus said – “Come.” When you know God’s will for your life and it’s based on the Word of God, then you can step out of the boat and do the miraculous in your life and fulfill God’s calling.
Years ago in Bible college, God called me as an evangelist to the nations. But God told me that I would first be trained by an evangelist before entering this calling. When I miraculously got a job as Daniel Kolenda’s Personal Assistant, I knew it was God’s will for my life because of the word God told me and because it lined up with the Bible. At first this job was very difficult for me, due to my lack of experience in doing the duties that I was asked to do. As a result, I wanted to give up. Then I remembered that it was God who called me at that specific time in my life to do that job and I made a decision to stand on God’s Word and not my own feelings. I rebuked the enemy and the lies he was telling me and I stood on God’s calling and promise for my life. You see my friends, God hasn’t called you to do His will so you can fail. If you stay aligned with Him and His will for your life, then you will see the victory in Jesus’ name! But you can’t give up and you can’t give in. You must stand on His Word and His promises for your life.
Finally, if you want to fulfill God’s calling for your life, you must keep your eyes on Jesus and not the circumstances that surround you. The Bible says that when Peter got out of the boat, he walked on the water toward Jesus, but then, the bible says Peter “saw the wind and became frightened”, he took his eyes off Jesus and he began to sink. The key is to keep your eyes on Jesus! He is our Lord and Savior. He is the one who gives us life and direction and He has the power to calm any storm. When you focus on Jesus and you give Him full authority over your life and all your decisions, He will lead you out of the storm, but you must follow Jesus and align yourself to His will and his Word and stay focused on Him. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life! God bless you!
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Together in the Harvest,
Evangelist Chris Mikkelson
