"I have appeared to you for this purpose." (Acts 26:16)
"I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." (Acts 26: 19)
God called a most unlikely person to become a witness to the Israelites and the Gentiles. He called a man named Saul, a man who had been persecuting Jesus personally and His followers. God's call was clear. Saul would be renamed Paul, and he would become a servant and a witness of all he had seen and to what God would eventually reveal to to him. But it was up to Paul to obey the God of the calling.
Ministry is not the backbone of the church today; obedience out of a personal relationship to God is! You can assume any role in the church-- an elder, a teacher, a worker, a leader, etc--but if you are not in an ever-growing and deepening relationship with God, your service could be done by anyone. Even by those who do not have a relationship with the Almighty.
God is not interested in what you think you can do for Him. He is looking for believers who walk daily with Him. Out of your relationship with God your obedience flows; and out of your obedience to Him your ministry to others flows. Obedience to God is a far-greater calling than any position in ministry. Obedience to God is what we all should be aiming at. Yet, it will never be achieved without placing yourself under the overmastering of the Lord. Oswald Chambers puts it this way:
"Your whole life is to be overmastered by Me; you are to have no end, no aim, and no purpose but Mine."
That is exactly how Paul thought about God's purpose for Him. It could only be achieved if he would simply allow God to be the director of his life and purpose. Paul's job was to draw closer and closer to God, growing in intimacy with Him, and out of the relationship, ministry would follow.
The same is just as true today. When I go off in my own power and leading, I am doomed in ministry. But when I humbly submit myself to hear all that God has planned for me, and simply believe Him, then the ministry that flows from me will truly be His. It will be the Spirit in me doing the works out of me. My daily relationship with God is the backbone of God's will and purpose through me. My obedience to God is the fruit of time spend in His word and with Him. This is what supports the ministry given to me to do. I can't and won't work the other way around.
PRAYER
Lord, help me get this right! Help me to keep my eyes fixed on the true goal: to be more and more intimate with You, trusting You and Your plan, not mine. The ministry and its results I leave completely in Your capable hands. And I cling to Your hand, trusting You alone to take me on the journey to reach others for Your glory.
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