“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!’” — Isaiah 6:8
Answering the Call
Penalty kicks are far and away the most stressful plays in soccer. Whoever steps up to take the kick is expected to convert; all of the pressure is on them because the goalie is at such a massive disadvantage. Some players welcome that pressure and want to take every penalty awarded to their team during a match. If their team ever ends up in a penalty shootout, they volunteer to take one of the five shots. Zlatan Ibrahimović, Eden Hazard and Cristiano Ronaldo are just three examples, but there are dozens more in leagues across the world.
God has given us, His people, the responsibility of carrying out His will. He wants people who will answer the call to go: go serve, go love, go spread joy, go encourage, go tell others about Christ! God’s gift of free will means we always have a choice. We decide whether we want to go when we hear God speaking to us through the Holy Spirit.
There will always be reasons not to go when God calls — we have too many other things going on in our lives, we don’t feel qualified to do the job, or the risk is too great, just to name a few. While God’s plan for our lives won’t always line up with ours, He has created all of us for a unique purpose.
The hope of Christ only spreads if there are people willing to answer “yes, Lord!” when God calls.
— Joshua Doering
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