Keep doing what you’ve been called to do.
“If I say, ‘I won’t mention Him or speak any longer in His name,’ His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail (Jer. 20:9 HCSB).
Jeremiah considered not being a prophet any longer. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t be at peace doing something else. God’s message was like a fire in his bones. That fire couldn’t be put out or held on to. Jeremiah could not be quiet about it. And, he would not disobey. He was called. Jeremiah did not preach because he had to say something but because he had something to say, and not saying it would have demoralized him, if not destroyed him.
You can’t ignore God’s call. It demands a response. The call comes first from the heart—internal—as a result of the continued drawing from the Holy Spirit. This conviction is deep within the inner most being of a person. Eventually, it becomes unshakeable—it marks a person for life. In time the inward call of God is reflected outward—as the Christian community confirms the call. No one can fulfill the difficult role of ministry adequately who has not been called and commissioned by Christ (internally) and the Church (externally).
H.B. London in his book, The Heart of a Great Pastor, wrote: “In those times when we stumble for our footing in the awful swellings of the Jordan, and the Evil One whispers in our ear, ‘Why did you ever decide to be a preacher anyway?’ the right answer can only be, ‘Cause I was called, you fool!’” Warren Wiersbe echoed, “The work of ministry is too demanding and difficult for a man to enter it without a sense of divine calling. Men enter and then leave the ministry usually because they lack a sense of divine urgency. Nothing less than a definite call from God could ever give a man success in the ministry.”
When called, be it to preaching or as an electrician or a lawyer, be obedient. Obedience is hard. Obedience is long. Yet, I suppose, disobedience is harder and more painful. It will demoralize you.
What has God called you to do? How are you heeding God’s call?