What on earth are you doing...for heaven's sake?!

As many of you know, Ruthie and I are partnering with The Navigators to reach out to International Students at Ashland University. We are joining staff with a dear couple who have been at Ashland for 20 years.

Last night – I had about 3 paths I could go with this message this morning – and after hearing the questions last night – I heard a lot of questions about – How do you know what God is calling you to do?
Rachel said last night she was called when she was 6 – and I was 19 when I was called and it took about 10 years for me to figure it out (to a degree) and we are still searching for that answer.

Ruthie and I met here in this church – I remember sitting where Rick and Carol are right now – that was my spot… and I remember seeing them come in and saying, “Hmm…”

When I went to college, I got involved with Young Life and The Navigators – and toward the end of my freshman year, the man I am working with pulled me aside and asked if I would go on staff with the Navigators. That summer, I went to a Young Life camp for the summer – and during that 6-9 weeks, I really felt the Lord calling me. I didn’t know what that meant at the time – when I got back I got involved more with The Navigators – and my senior year got engaged to Ruthie and we were married 6 months later and went off to Kairos LA.
Looking back, we thought we would be in LA for a long time – but like Ruthie said last night, sometimes God takes our foolishness to bring us where He wants us now.
In LA, my eyes were opened to multiculturalism – my heart was broken with the segregation I see in church today.

We came back – and started Impact – I am so glad you still use that name.
Then we moved back to Ashland – and I am trying to figure out why I am there. It is an interesting and great place to be.

How did we start working with international students? I was working on campus – we moved into a fraternity house – not the most common place you would expect – but there, international students started coming to us.
“Are you doing something here, Lord?” – so we started going to international student events – and we were kind of the odd couple living on campus. Sophia is energetic and I put her down and she ran right into the middle of a group of Taiwanese girls who were the first to come to our studies.
I took a job with Verizon wireless – and since then, I have felt the call to join Navs fulltime and so, in July of this year, I left Verizon and started working toward being full time with the Navs.
But what about you? How do you know what God is thinking? Well, a lot of the time, I don’t. We make this question of calling way too complicated. Look at all the books written about it and the students and even older people asking what is God calling me to do? Here is my meager attempt – We all have two callings – primary and secondary.
Ephesians 1 – we are called to be children of God – if you are a Christian, your first calling is to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
Secondary calling – who knows the story of William Wilberforce – was on British Parliament and was responsible for the abolition of slavery in Great Britain.
He was a gifted man, impassioned at a young age with slavery and the abolition thereof. At the point he came to know the Lord, he almost left politics – but he approached John Newton as a spiritual mentor – who said, in my paraphrase – you know what you are called to do – the Lord has gifted you as a man of parliament!
Too often, we think that the calling to spiritual affairs are more important than that of secular affairs – Who has heard of Bezalel – and Oholiab?
They are not known as spiritual leaders, but they are two of my favorite people in the Old Testament. When the Lord commissioned the building of the tabernacle –
Ex. 31: 2 "See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 "And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all [kinds of] craftsmanship, 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 5 and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all [kinds of] craftsmanship. 6 "And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 the tent of meeting, and the ark of testimony, and the mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent, 8 the table also and its utensils, and the pure [gold] lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, 9 the altar of burnt offering also with all its utensils, and the laver and its stand, 10 the woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, [with which] to carry on their priesthood; 11 the anointing oil also, and the fragrant incense for the holy place, they are to make [them] according to all that I have commanded you. "

They did what God was calling them to do. I often put people on a pedestal – but we are all called to be missionaries. What are you gifted in? For me – to speak, yes, but even more to work with Internationals – I really like it! But I have friends who are gifted to be carpenters or to work at Verizon. If we focus on the first calling – loving the Lord with all our strength – then the second calling will be obvious.

How can you be a missionary right where you are? How can you be a missionary to the workforce? I don’t have those contacts like you’ll have. Keep focusing on what He is calling you to do.