Hello, are you listening?

Image linked from http://www.onmission.com

The passage below is taken from GMSJ bulletin dated 23rd May 2004:

Called by God

God did not direct His call to Isaiah - Isaiah overheard God saying, "... who will go for Us?" The call of God is not just for a select few but everyone. Whether I hear God's call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. "Many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear "the voice of the Lord" continually asking, "... who will go for Us?" However, God doesn't single out someout and say, "Now you go." He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, "Here am I! Send me."

Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irrestible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His "Follow Me" was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard - "the voice of the Lord." In perfect freedom we too will say, "Here am I! Send me".

Image linked from http://www.treasureschristianbooks.com

I had totally forgotten about the passage above. I believe that I would have read it on that Sunday of 23rd May 2004, but I had forgotten its content and most of all, its message. I suppose the words didn't really get into my head then.

Yes, I am one of those people that thinks God will single out people and "instructs" them to do His will. Hence all these years I have been waiting to hear the voice of God to tell me on what I am to do. Daily I close my eyes, bow down my head and pray for his guidance and the faith and wisdom to comprehend his "instructions", if it comes. However, after the "Amen", I open my eyes, lift up my head and go on doing things just as they have always been done. Most of the time, I thought that God hasn't given His "instructions" yet.

Now I realize that his "instructions" have always been there. I was the one who didn't hear it. My spiritual attitude may or may not be there yet, but whatever it is, I didn't hear it. Because

Whether I hear God's call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude.

I have to open up my ears first before I can hear anything at all. Then my spiritual attitude will come into the picture to determine what I hear. The next time when I pray for God's "instructions", I must remember that it doesn't end when I say "Amen".

I have to listen to God's part of the conversation too.

I have also found two webpages which describes a little bit more about the call of God:

• God's Calling For Your Life. Stay long enough on that page to hear a snippet of splendid music.
• Can You Hear God Now?