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How to Respond to God’s Mission and Call for Your Life
God created you with a purpose
You are not an accident on this earth. You exist here for a reason or cause. You met Christ with a reason. If you do not realize this reason, you may become an unfulfilled person with dissatisfaction and longings. The reason is that God has placed both a general and a specific individual call and assignment (mission) in your life. The general call and assignment are to preach the gospel, prepare yourself for eternity, and so on. The individual call and assignment are very special and unique, given by God to you as an individual. You are unique with different talents, abilities, and more. So, too, your individual call is unique and personal.
Many times, we know our call and assignment come from God, but we may respond wrongly. Today, we will look at this issue—how we should respond to God’s call and assignment in our lives. Let us reflect on the passage Matthew 21:28-32. Here, the Father asks His two sons to go to His vineyard. The first son responds to the Father, saying, “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went” (Matthew 21:29). The second son responds, “I will, sir,” but he did not go” (Matthew 21:30). Let us reflect upon both responses.
Response of the First Son
- Relationship: Our relationship with our earthly father can be broken or strained if we respond to him negatively or wrongly when he asks or requests something from us. In the same way, the way you respond to the call and assignment of your heavenly Father may affect your relationship and intimacy with God.
- Authority: As our earthly father has authority over us, the Heavenly Father has sovereignty over our lives. The way you respond to God’s call and assignment indicates how you respond to God’s sovereignty over your life. We need absolute surrender here.
- Voice of God: Both sons heard the voice of their father. In the same way, God reveals His voice to us. Often, we misunderstand it, as Samuel did when he heard God’s voice but thought it was Eli’s voice. A proper response to the voice of God is very important.
- Vineyard: The Father asked both sons to go to the vineyard. God assigns a vineyard to us. It may be your office, your community, or something else. Jonah was called for Nineveh but he went to Tarshish. God will make a choice for your mission field. He knows where you will fit in His Kingdom.
- Sense of Urgency: The first son initially said no but later went. He delayed responding to God’s call. He did not have a sense of urgency regarding God’s call. However, we all need a sense of urgency in God’s work.
- Change of Mind: The first son changed his mind and went to God’s field. A change in our mind is key to properly responding to God’s call and assignment. Our minds are influenced by media, work culture, friends, culture, background, knowledge, and more. However, we need the mind of Christ to respond to God. We can receive it only through the Holy Spirit. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to change our minds.
Response of the Second Son
- Synchronizing Mouth and Feet: The second son spoke nicely but did not obey or practice. Often, we talk and dream, but we do not take action or practice. There is often a huge gap between our words and our actions. We say “yes” to God, but we do not apply that “yes” in practice.
- Promise: The second son promised the Father that he would go but did not keep his promise. We give many promises to God, especially on New Year's Eve. However, how far we can keep those promises in our personal lives is important. Often, we make promises to God in our excitement when we hear a nice message, read the Bible, or hear God’s voice in our lives. But when the excitement fades, how we keep our promises to God matters a lot.
- Transparency and Honesty: The first son was transparent and honest in his response, but the second son was not. How genuine our responses and promises to God are is important. We can easily become hypocrites. God looks at our hearts. We should be honest and transparent before God.
- Sacrifice: The second son was not ready to leave his comfort zone, his house. The vineyard is always outside. It is not a comfort zone. There is always hard work in the vineyard. But the first son made a sacrifice, left his comfort zone, and went to the vineyard. As long as you are in Egypt, you cannot enter into your promised land. Make a sacrifice for God. It is essential to respond to God.
Find out your personal response to God. How is it? Are you on the right track? How do you respond to God’s call and assignment (missions) in your personal life on a daily basis? What is your attitude toward God’s unique call and assignment in your life?