Devotion Archives
printer friendly version
Learning for Life: Cultivating a Student Spirituality
Week 24
Steve Kooy, Queen’s University
24.1 Avoiding Missed Calls (calling)
1 Samuel 3
In 2005, the realm of telecommunication (literally “the transfer of information from far off”) was a $1.2 billion industry that spanned the globe. Our world is a place where cell phones, satellite radio and the internet dominate. Communication from far off flows freely all around us, but that isn’t to say that our cell phones don’t lose their signal and our internet providers never go down.
In our text, the Israelites had developed a similar problem with receiving communication from far off (1 Sam 3:1b). Messages and messengers from God were uncommon. There was a breakdown on the receiving end, so God intervened and created a new channel for his messages to flow through. And the big launch came early one morning when God called out in an audible voice to Samuel.
There was much work to be done for this prophet. His calling marked an important time in the development of God’s plan to redeem his creation. But today is no less important.
John Calvin, a 16th century theologian, pastor, university founder and church father to many Reformed churches taught that we also have a calling from God. And actually, we don’t just have one kind, we have two. We have a general calling to follow Jesus. Like the disciples in the New Testament, Christ addresses each one of us personally and offers transformation. He says, “Join me. Let me become the center of your world.” But there is more to God’s plan than just our personal transformation. He also wants to transform his world through us. And so in addition to our general calling, Christ gives us special callings in life. He says, “Join me, and let me become the centre of the world”. He invites us to participate in his grandiose plan of redeeming his creation, through various assignments in a wide range of shapes and sizes.
God is calling, are you ready to respond?
Quote: “No task will be so sordid and base, provided you obey your calling in it, that it will not shine and be reckoned very precious in God’s sight.” John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion.
24.2 Where are all the Burning Bushes? (Discernment)
Acts 7:23-36
Knowing we are called is the first step. But the second is discovering what our assignments are.
According to Acts 7:25, Moses had a sense of what God was calling him to, but it was a dramatic sign of a burning bush and a voice from God that burnt away any confusion.
Why doesn’t God still do that?
Why do we sometimes have to struggle with questions like - Should I go into engineering or nursing? Should I major in economics or music? What am I supposed to do with my life?!!
I have often craved for burning bushes in times like these and I have wondered why God doesn’t just tell us what to do through big and miraculous signs? Now that is not to say that this may never happen, but it sure isn’t the normal way that God reveals his will for our lives. Why not?
The answer is that God wants us to learn how to discern his will. Learning to discern is an essential part of being a follower of Jesus. Imagine what life would be like if God always gave big signs to tell us what to do. We would become mindless followers, Christian zombies. A poster in our Queens campus ministry center puts it this way – “Christ died to take away your sin, not your mind”.
Discernment is a spiritual discipline. It is a skill that God wants us all to learn so that we can grow and mature in our relationship with him. And often the process of discovering God’s will is as important as the end result, because through it, God shapes us. He teaches us things about himself, and he teaches us things about ourselves. And along the way we may begin to realize that the journey is as often as important as the destination.
Quote: “God does not intend that guidance be a shortcut to escape making decisions and taking risks. Indeed, God wants us to develop good judgement, and there is no way to develop it apart from a process that involves choices and risks.”
John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted
24.3 Connection Issues (Intimacy with God)
Isaiah 29:12-16
In the house we lived in before coming to Kingston, we only had one telephone jack. We had three phones but only one was connected. The others were wired up and built to receive, but they were unable to because they were not plugged in and hooked up.
In Isaiah, God calls people to account who looked like they had it all together, but who failed to have a deep and intimate connection with God. They were phonies who had great human intelligence and wonderful plans but they forgot their maker who gave them their gifts and talents. The result was misplaced efforts and short lived glory. They had turned “things upside down, as if a potter were thought to be like the clay” (16a).
John Calvin once wrote “knowledge of the sciences is so much smoke apart from the heavenly science of Christ.” When we lose sight of our creator, how we view life and all its aspects becomes distorted.
Yesterday we discussed the need for discernment to see what God is calling us to do. If we want to discern what God is calling us to, we have to connect with the one who does the calling. We can’t just live the way we want to live and then expect God to guide us where he wants us to go and to do what he wants us to do. We need to be one with the One.
Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). This is the first place to start in understanding God’s call in your life. Pursue an authentic, intimate connection with your creator.
What connection issues with God do you need to address in your life?
Quote: “If you want to know God’s will, you must respond to His invitation to love Him wholeheartedly.” Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God
24.4 A Balancing Act (Listening)
Psalm 81
Another key component to discerning our callings from God is listening.
The psalm writer Asaph shares with us God’s longing to be listened to. As we have established earlier, it is not likely that God will speak to us in an audible voice like he did with Moses and Samuel. And very rarely will the Bible offer direct advice on which school to attend. Unless of course you are trying to decide between Queens University and Kings College, and your Bible happens to fall open to Ezra 4:19 which says, “…revolt against kings..” Now let me say, that both are excellent schools and of course, that is not how the Bible was designed nor is it a correct way to try to listen to God.
Instead, listening to God’s specific directions usually happens through a balancing of inner convictions, and outer circumstances.
The inner leading of the Spirit can happen as we identify the passions that he has put on our heart. It can also occur through gentle nudges and convictions like those “I guess I should really…” moments. Those times when you feel that inner tug to act. Discerning means following the Spirit’s inner leading.
But it also means listening to how he works through outside forces like people, and timing, and circumstances. We may feel led to become a doctor, but that will need to be confirmed by getting into med school. Do you feel a passion to go into teaching? Ask a person who knows you well what they think. Then get a second opinion, and balance that with the first and with other outer and inner circumstances.
Galatians 5:25 says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
Are you listening to what God has to say to you?
Quote: “A calling is something to hear with ears and intuition, and it comes through teachers, preachers, books, and family and friends.” Peter Schuurman
24.5 Slave Trading (Submission)
Romans 6
I am not sure I like Paul’s comment about being a slave. Slavery is not usually a good thing. Some men like William Wilberforce (1759-1833), a British member of parliament spent almost his whole life fighting against the idea. This year marks the 200th anniversary of his successful campaign to abolish the slave trade within the British empire, although it wasn’t until 1833 that all slaves were finally freed.
But then again, maybe Paul’s analogy is strikingly accurate. No matter how much I want to try to assert my freedom and try to be the master of my own domain, I know that I am a slave in spirit, and there are only two masters to choose from. In Romans 7, Paul explains my life quite accurately – “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (7:19).
And if I am to choose between being a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness, I want to be mastered by God. Sin is the ultimate bondage, but in Christ I have a master who will lead me to holiness and eternal life (6:22)
And so instead of struggling against the term, I recognize my state of being and I gladly submit to my master like Samuel did in the story we read at the beginning of this week. When God called the young boy, Samuel answered with the words “here I am”. In its original language of Hebrew, he used one word - “hinneni” ( הִנֵּֽנִי ). It is the word of a servant hearing and obeying. Samuel was placing himself in submission to his master.
As you try to discern God’s callings in your life, ask yourself these questions -
Who is really in charge of my life?
What and where do I need to submit to Christ?
Quote: “The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master.” Peter T. Forsythe
24.6 Final Words (Serving Well)
2 Timothy 4:1-8
At the end of every school year, one person is selected to look back and to share their reflections. We call this person a “valedictorian” which comes from the latin words vale dicere which mean "to say farewell". This person is often a top graduate of their class and their role is to take inventory of the past, speak to present emotions and challenge for the future.
In our Scripture passage today, Paul offered words of farewell. He seemed to sense he was at a graduation point – a time of endings and new beginnings. He was imprisoned in Rome and death loomed over him. His final words offer a challenge for how we live out our callings. Listen to some of the words he uses to Timothy and imagine him speaking them to you - “be prepared in season and out of season”, “keep your head in all situations”, “endure hardship”, “discharge all the duties of your ministry”.
As we already have established, we have different callings in life. But these words of Scripture today encourage us to take these tasks seriously and to work hard. Is your calling to be a student? Study hard. Fight the good fight, finish the race, keep the faith. Are you called to be a member of a student committee? Don’t see it as just a volunteer position. Discharge all the duties of your calling.
I love Jesus’ words in John 17 as he says his goodbyes to his disciples. In verse 4 he prays to the Father and says, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”
Whatever your calling, remember who you are working for and that you and your work is part of God’s plan to transform his creatures and his creation.
Quote: “God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers. If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you, you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all.” CS Lewis Mere Christianity
24.7 Mind Matters (Equality)
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
I think I am a right brain person, though I haven’t really thought this out very well. That probably makes a lot of sense since according to the hypothesis, right brain people are more visual and big picture focussed, and left brain people are more analytical and methodical. Since this concept was developed in the late 1960s by Roger Sperry, some have disputed the findings, and in the end you will have to make your mind up for yourself. But in all this time, no one has ever claimed that we only need only one part of the brain. Although one side may seem to be more dominant, both are valuable in life, and in that sense, both are equally important.
In this last session on calling, it is important for us to remind ourselves that all callings are equal in God’s eyes. He has given everyone specific functions and some of these may be more visibly prominent than others, but they are equally valuable to God.
And so let us remember two things as we live out our callings. The first is we are dependant on each other. We need each other because our callings are part of a greater plan of God. 1 Corinthians 12 teaches that “there should be no division in the body, but…its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it” (25-26). When a fellow student receives top marks, celebrate with them. When a colleague is awarded a prestigious grant, rejoice with them. And when someone falters or stumbles, offer a hand of support. Because every act in Christ’s name is significant, which is the second thing to remind ourselves. Mark 9:41 teaches us that even a small act like offering a cup of water will be rewarded. Little acts of faithfulness have great meaning in God’s eyes.
Whether you are left or right brained, have the mind of Christ in all you do.
Quote: “Every calling is great when greatly pursued.” Oliver Wendell Holmes
Copyright © CRCMA 2008
This article can be copied and distributed freely provided its content has not been
changed. This resource cannot be sold or distributed for financial gain. It must be free.
And it must be unedited. Otherwise, the author reserves all rights to the resource.
