God’s Call - Do You Hear It?

“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

Sometimes people read about great men and women of the Bible and think they were born with their strong faith and have lived a perfect life.  But that is the furthest from the truth; many of the great men and women of the Bible have lived imperfect lives but God graciously used them nevertheless.

We have a perfect example in the Bible of God starting a good work in someone and completing it - just look at one of Jesus’ disciples - Simon Peter.

In John 1:40-42 the Bible records for us the first time Peter came face to face with Jesus. What an honor for Peter to be able to meet the One who created him! It says in verse 42, “Now when Jesus looked at him, He said to Peter, “You are Simon son of John, you will be called Cephas (which, when translated, is Peter = the rock).

You may be wondering to yourself, “What does God see when He looks at me?” May I remind you that when Jesus sees you - He not only sees you as you are today but He sees the person that you will become in His Hands! 

The Bible shares with us that Peter stumbled greatly after his first encounter with Jesus but the following is what is encouraging: In spite of Peter’s failures, shortcomings  -  even in spite of Peter denying the Lord Jesus Christ  -  he went on to do great things for God! God used Peter's sermon at Pentecost to add three thousand souls as believers in Christ. Peter was also called to minister to the Gentiles and God used His tenacity to preach the good news effectively.  Peter also performed many miracles like healing the sick and he was esteemed highly. He went on to do great things for God because it was God who began the work in Peter’s life in the first place and it was God who completed the work in Peter’s life up to his last breath.

Just like Peter, we make lots of mistakes but God can still use our broken lives, IF, we are opened to Him, we too can go on to be used in many small or great ways to bring Him glory! 

If you feel that God is calling you into something that is different than what you are accustomed to, embrace His call! He will give you all the grace and power that you will need to do great things for His Glory!

 

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him is glory both now and forever! Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18