God uses daily experiences to reveal to us “what” is the function that we perform, or will perform, within the Kingdom of God on earth, that is, what is the call to the ministry that He gives us. But, it is not all experiences, it is some, particularly those that lead us into a confrontation, or those that at the moment can be considered a problem, a conflict, or a crisis.
It is not possible to build a ministry to God on one’s own or natural abilities, much less on the gifts of a jovial, outgoing and social personality; the science of human behavior will tell you otherwise, it will tell you that this is the raw material of persuasive leadership; in the Gospel this is not the case, for you would be building on a social, human platform and not on the principles of the Kingdom.
Ministry to God is discovered in the subjection of the person’s free will to the Will of God, so that it is God’s resources, and not the person’s abilities and/or skills, that establish on earth the purposes of the call; this is the foundation of a ministry to God according to the Will of the Almighty, and the only ministry to God that transcends spiritually. The prophet Ezekiel clearly establishes this foundation:
Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6
The prophet Joel corroborates this statement, adding that the magnitude of God’s power grows when human strengths decrease:
beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Joel 3:10
The apostle Paul instructs the Corinthian community of faith that the life of ministry depends on God’s grace for the person He calls:
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2nd. Corinthians 12:9
You see, you cannot build a service to God on personality endowments, for what you would be building is a human work, and as such, at the risk of one day falling, with no possibility of getting up; in fact, sometimes God confronts the person in his own abilities to make him desist from continuing to rely on his natural faculties; that is the case when the apostle Peter, and others of Jesus’ disciples, witnessed the supernatural power of God over nature:
And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. Luke 5:5
The words correspond to a man with great knowledge in fishing, and with great mastery of the methodologies of his time, however, Jesus provokes the event to show him that the call is based on God who gives it, and that the resources belong to God, nothing can add to our vocation.
So, how do I discover my function within the Kingdom of God? The answer is in the circumstances where you have been confronted, in the circumstances where you were humiliated, in the circumstances from which you wish they would not be repeated; look among those experiences, if you see a common factor among them, extract it, you are approaching the counsel of God to understand what God is calling you to.
pastor Montoya
Treasure in Earthen Vessels 