When God Calls Someone Else in Your Life

What do you do when God calls someone in your life to do something you don't understand or agree with? What if God tells that person what to do but doesn't share it with you?





It can be difficult. Whether you are a wife who hates her husband's decision to move the family to a new job, a parent who violently disagrees with your child's decision to move to Africa and be a missionary, or just a concerned friend, it's hard to know: how do I know if God really gave them this message? What if it ends up terribly? How can I submit to God's will for another person's life when I'm not even sure what that will is?





The thing we need to remember is, we won't always know when, how, or what God tells other people. His messages can come in many ways. Now, if your friend is doing something that is clearly against the Bible, you can feel sure their message is not from God. But what about other decisions they make that you don't agree with?





We have to remember that in the Bible, God did not always tell the people around the person in question what the message was. For example, in Mark 1:16-20, Jesus only called a few very specific people:

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Remember that Simon Peter was a fisherman by trade. Jesus called him in the middle of his work day! So were John and James. I'm sure their father, Zebedee, felt confused and probably angry when his sons just left work in the middle of the day to follow a man no one had ever heard of. He probably felt like they were being irresponsible and letting their family risk poverty and even starvation. He may have even yelled at them to get back in the boat.

Yet those 3 men became Jesus' closest friends and disciplines.

In the Bible, there are other instances of God only giving a message to the person it concerns. Think of Job's wife, who ridiculed him for not losing faith in God. Think of Noah, whose neighbors made fun of him and called him crazy for building an ark in the middle of the desert. Think of Joseph, who at first felt betrayed by Mary, until later God confirmed to him in a dream that the message He'd given Mary was true.

Sometimes, it may be hard for us to accept the messages God gives other people. But imagine where our world would be now if Mary had declined God's call to bear His Son because she gave in to family and societal pressure. Imagine if Noah had not built the ark and just gone back to his quiet life like his neighbors. Imagine if Simon Peter had given up the chance to found the Holy Christian Church because he decided to do the "responsible" thing and stay at work fishing that day.

Let us pray to be like Joseph, open to the call of God in the lives of those around us.