Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
That’s not always the way it happens when God desires to send someone on a mission. People tend to resist that calling at least at first. There are lots of different reasons; they’re afraid, they aren’t sure it’s really God speaking to them, they don’t want to make the sacrifices that might go with answering the call; they don’t think they have what it takes to do the task to which God is calling them.
Saturday night as we sat in the chapel at the girls’ retreat we had a time of prayer and reflection after a very meaningful worship service. The girls were asked to spread out and pray about anything standing between them and God. The spiritual directors were available if anyone needed to speak to one. We moved toward the back of the large worship space to observe. I was drawn to notice one girl sitting by herself in prayer. God said, “Go to her.” I resisted, not being sure God was really behind this urge. I didn’t want to disturb her prayer time. God kept tugging on me until I went. I sat behind her and placed my hand on her shoulder. She didn’t respond. God said, persist. I moved beside her and asked if she was ok. She said yes. But I remained beside her and began to sense a spiritual struggle going on. I caught the eye of the lay director and she came and sat on the other side of the girl. After a bit, the floodgates opened and the girl broke into sobs so deep we couldn’t understand what she was saying. I led her away from others so we could speak privately. This young woman was dealing with some hard things in her life. I had the knowledge and life experiences to let her know I understood and to give her some encouragement. Many people have hard things going on that we don’t know about. If I hadn’t finally stepped out in faith and gone to the girl, I would not have been able to help her. The pain would have remained with her. If God calls you to step out and help someone, please do so. Often you are the one specially equipped to help.
Dear God, thank you for giving me a gift of spiritual discernment. Help me and others to be bolder to respond when you call us to a task. Help us to be more sensitive to those who need our support and comfort. Amen.
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