Calling on God, Being Called by God
In my Bible studies this week, I came across two very different Bible stories that caught my attention in a special way. I made a mental note of each, thinking that a lesson may develop from that particular passage, but not until this morning’s devotional time did I think about the combination of the two being an important lesson to share with you.
We all have difficult periods of life that seem to come at us much too often. I often refer to these periods as our trials, which also could be called our battles. Many today are facing the battle of limited finances in a slow economy. Others are dealing with an illness, relationship problem, or an assortment of the challenges that we face in this world. I pray that this lesson gives you direction and encouragement to press on. As the Apostle Paul writes to us in Philippians 3:14, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)
The first story that caught my attention this week is found in the Book of 1 Samuel chapter 4. The Bible tells us as this story develops, that for a long period of time, the Lord had not spoken to anyone: “Now in those days messages from the LORD were very rare (1 Samuel 3:1 NLT.)” This is because the people decided to do their own thing; they didn’t need God. They had their jobs, relationships, and all the things of a busy life to keep them occupied. Things were going well enough without the need of an active relationship with the Lord. (Do we ever get real busy?)
Just as things were going well enough, suddenly a trial showed up: “At that time Israel was at war with the Philistines. The Israelite army was camped near Ebenezer, and the Philistines were at Aphek. The Philistines attacked and defeated the army of Israel, killing four thousand men. After the battle was over, the army of Israel retreated to their camp, and their leaders asked, "Why did the LORD allow us to be defeated by the Philistines? (1 Samuel 4:1-3 NLT)” So what we have here is this: life has been going good enough without the need to communicate with God. There has been no need of going to worship Him, or even reading the Word of God, and suddenly the people are attacked in a battle. A defeated result occurred. Just like us, they asked, “Why did God allow this to happen to me?”
So in their own wisdom, they think: “Let’s go get God. We forgot to bring Him into the battle (Robby Version.)” The Bible says, “Let us bring the ark of the Lord's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies." (Do you sometimes find that the only time you try to bring God into your life is when you are under some sort of attack or trial?) “So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim (1 Samuel 4:3-4 NIV).” Now I really like this story! It clearly shows me that the Bible was not written by mere man, because if man wrote it, the story would have been different. If I were writing this story, I would then write: “The people went back and brought about the mighty Ark of the Covenant. This same Ark parted the Jordan River, tore down the walls of Jericho, and defeated many armies as Moses and Joshua made their way to the Promise Land. Now the Philistines were in deep trouble. They are about to be wiped from the earth!” That’s what I would write. Some of the current TV “prosperity preachers” would write the same thing today. They might say, “If you’re in a battle, just bring in the Lord to your trial. He will fight your battle for you!” I ask, “Is it that all it takes?” Let’s study on…
The Bible says that they went and got the Ark and brought it into the camp: “When the ark of the Lord's covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook (v. 5).” (Now, I think, the Philistines are going to get it!) “The Philistines heard all the shouting, and they became afraid: “Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?" When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid. "A god has come into the camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert (v. 6-8.)” I hope that I have your attention here. The Israelites are pumped because they went and got God, and the Philistines are afraid because they remember what the Ark represented.
If this were a “feel good” Hollywood movie, you would see all of God’s power come out of the Ark, like in Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the Philistines would be zapped like the Nazis were in that movie. But that’s not what happened at all! The Bible says, “So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated, and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died (v. 10-11.)” You may think, “What? The Israelites were slaughtered? The bad guys even captured the Ark of God?” Yes, now things were really dreadful.
You may be thinking now, “Boy, Robby, I thought your ministry was a ministry of encouragement. I don’t feel encouraged here at all. If I’m in a trial/battle, and I finally call on God to help me, (even after I wonder why He placed me in this trial,) are you saying things can even get worse?” My answer is yes (possibly), but I do have A Good Word for you! Keep reading…
Often times, even in my own life, I would like for God to be like a magic genie. Just pull out that lamp (or Ark/Bible), and rub it when I need Him. If I find myself going through a trial, I decide to open up my Bible to read a little, or I would go to church one Sunday to say, “Lord help me out here.” I do believe that the Lord works through our trials, but He doesn’t work like a magic genie. We all know people who will share how they were in a difficult period of their lives, and the Lord showed up to fix things. But then we look at their lives now, days later, and we don’t see much of Him in their current witness. At some point in a future battle, He may just let them fight for themselves, even if they bring their Bible/church visit (Ark) back into the battle.
I can tell you with certainty that a trial in my life caused me to call out to the Lord, and that’s when my life changed. But my call to Him that day was a different cry for help. It was a repentant cry for mercy. I finally, after many years of just asking for His help, called out for Him to make ME better. That day, I called out to Him, and He called me!
Now here’s where the other Bible story ties in. Like I said, when I got out of bed this morning, I hadn’t ever thought about how the two passages could work together, but perhaps they do in a strong way. In the Book of Luke chapter 18, Jesus is on his way to Jericho. The Bible says, “As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by (Luke 18:35-37 NIV).” Wasn’t that a nice “coincidence” for that blind man? He just happened to be sitting at a place where Jesus would pass by. Perhaps you are sitting at a place where Jesus is passing by now. Can you see the Lord in your daily position of life, or are you blinded by all of your activities? The Bible goes on to say, “He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! (v. 38)” Does this sound like a repentant cry for mercy to you? If you called out to him today, what would the people who you have surrounded yourself with (your friends) say? If they were the right people, they would say, “Yes, call out louder for the Lord to hear your cry for mercy.” But if they were the wrong “friends” to be hanging around, they might say, “Be quiet, why do you need Him?”
The Bible story goes on to say, “Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me! (v. 39)” He shouted even louder! He must have really wanted a change. Now catch what happens next: The Bible says, “Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him (v. 40).” Did you catch that? I would say this is being called by God. In the same way, my call out to Jesus several years ago was a call from the bottom of my heart. I wanted a change of heart, along with a change of the surrounding circumstances. The Bible says, “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved (Romans 10:10.)” That was the day that the Lord called me. That very week was the first time that I EVER shared the Lord with anyone else. I felt compelled to share my story in a business meeting at my place of work. That’s where my ministry began - in the business board room.
The Bible story goes on to say, “Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" "Lord, I want to see," he replied. Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God (Luke 18:40-43 NIV.)” That very day, the blind man called out for mercy, and his call to God was answered by a calling out to him in return. Can you guess whose face the blind man first saw? It seems that I can add my favorite Bible verse to every lesson that I write, because it can always fit in. Have you learned it yet? (James 4:8) “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you (NKJ.)” The blind man made an effort to first draw near to the Lord Jesus, and the Lord drew the man right up to a miraculous encounter with Him.
I encourage you, if you have a need to be brought before the Lord, call out to the Lord in a repentant cry for mercy. Psalm 27:7-8 says, “Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, Lord, I will seek (NIV.)” It’s not about bringing God into our battles only when we need Him. All of our efforts to bring Him anywhere are as empty as that Ark of the Covenant was the day the Israelites brought the Ark into battle. If you keep reading the story in the Book of Samuel, the Israelites finally got the Ark back, and the Philistines attacked them again. But do you know what happens next? This time the Israelites don’t go to “get God.” Read 1 Samuel 7:4-11. The Bible says, “––the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Car (1 Samuel 7:10-11 NIV.)” Now let me tell you what had changed in this battle: Instead of going to “get God” the Bible teaches us what the Israelites did just before the attack of the Philistines: “On that day they fasted and there they confessed, "We have sinned against the Lord (1 Samuel 7:6.)" Very much like the blind man, this time the Israelites reached out to draw near Him first. Only then did God fight their battle for them, and the enemy was defeated. It was the faith in the heart of the blind man that led to his victory. Call out to Him with your heart, and He will hear your cry.
“Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song (Psalm 28:6-7 NIV.)”
Robby
