Called, Chosen, and Faithful

Jeremiah was called to be a prophet, chosen to speak God’s word from his mother’s womb. He was obedient even when he knew he would be repeatedly beaten and thrown in jail for speaking God’s word. Jeremiah was doing as God commanded him to do when this faithful prophet lamented:

“For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction because for me the word of the LORD has resulted in reproach and derision all day long.

But if I say, ‘I will not remember Him or speak any more in His name,’ then in my heart, it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones and I am weary of holding it in and I cannot endure it.’” Jeremiah 20: 8-10 NASB

Jeremiah is weary of giving God’s word to people who always rejected it. His messages are not what they want to hear. He is repeatedly shamed, ridiculed, punished, beaten, and jailed for His ministry. Through it all, however, he trusts God to bring about what is intended. Jeremiah goes again and again to talk things over with God, but the truth is that he couldn’t not obey. He was compelled to fulfill his calling even though he was made a laughingstock.

Jeremiah was created to speak God’s word to the people, whether he wanted to or not. He had to speak regardless of the consequences to him. Jeremiah was called to be a prophet at a time when God’s people were rebellious and disobedient.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1: 5 NASB

Such difficult paths so many of God’s saints are called to walk! It helps a great deal when we are assured that what we are called to do is God’s idea, not ours. As we obey, the outcome is in His hands. More than once, we may remind the Lord (as if He doesn’t know) that it was His idea when we experience challenges and opposition while faithfully fulfilling our calling in obedience to Him.

Once, I was complaining about doing His will and still having people come against me. God told me: “Nothing worth doing is without opposition.” When we are in His will and it’s going wrong for us, it brings great peace to know this. Opposition, though we don’t enjoy it, makes us strong. Like Jeremiah, we would prefer no opposition to the work God has given us, but that is not what He promised.

In fact, it is rare for those called according to His purposes not to face opposition. Jesus faced it daily in His earthly ministry. As the disciples said when spreading the gospel to others:

“We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22 BSB

God often calls us to do many things that have never entered our hearts. We find ourselves doing things we never thought of or even considered ourselves capable of doing. This includes future endeavors we definitely did not want to do and would not have chosen for ourselves. When we are in the center of His will, as Jeremiah was, He promises us that He will equip us to do it all and keep us going. As we submit, He grants us joy in the doing.

Regardless of whether we feel prepared for it or not, whether we always want to, every moment of every day, God remains faithful to us. God’s chosen work for us may not be on our list of goals for our future, but even when His calling fulfills the desires of our hearts, we cannot count on all to go smoothly. It never did for the saints of the Old and New Testaments.

“[Paul continued} establishing the souls of the disciples, besides entreating them to remain in the faith and saying that, ‘Through many afflictions must we be entering into the kingdom of God.’” Acts 14:22 CLV

Barriers and difficulties arise, but we can rest in the assurance that we are on the path He has chosen for us. With the surrender of our own will and ideas, it becomes a joy to walk the paths God chooses, regardless of the inevitable adversity as we do so. God is never surprised or unprepared for the obstacles we face, the opposition we encounter from others who do not share our vision or calling.

Our Lord is always gracious in revealing how to handle each obstacle, providing a way for every obedient servant. These obstacles do strengthen us in the Lord, just as the apostle Paul confessed:

"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV

When He calls us, we can rest in knowing we are chosen as we obey His calling. God does not have volunteers, but designated soldiers in His army. We are in the kingdom for such a time as this. We rest, even rejoice in our weakness, knowing our humanity displays His strength alone.

The Old Testament shares many accounts of others besides Jeremiah who were called in specific times when God chooses to use humans to execute His will. Such was Esther’s experience when she was called to be Queen for King Ahasuerus (Xerxes). This is a wonderful story of God’s calling to a future never considered by this beautiful young Jewish woman. What a surprise for Esther to find herself in the King’s palace as His chosen Queen!

As the biblical account goes, King Ahasuerus’ Queen, Vashti, displeased the King, so he sought another. Raised by Mordecai, her uncle, Esther had learned to submit to his godly guidance. Thus, Esther was well prepared to be the next Queen. Because of God’s calling on her life, Esther found favor with all those in the palace and was chosen by the King to be his next Queen:

“Now the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the [other] virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in the place of Vashti.” Esther 2:17 AMP

Being Jews, Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, directed Esther not to share their Jewish heritage. He knew the jews were not safe in this kingdom. He was a respected elder in the community, serving in the King’s court, along with another man of ambition and pride named Haman. Haman eventually was promoted to be the chief authority over all the officials. He persuaded the King to decree that all bow down and pay homage to Haman.

Mordecai refused to do so and it made Haman furious:

“When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, he was furious. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were (his nationality); so Haman determined to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who lived throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus.” Esther 3:5-6 AMP

Haman was offended and angry at Mordecai’s continual refusal to honor and recognize him as he thought was his due. He devised a plot to destroy all the Jews in the kingdom, not just his hated enemy, Mordecai, by convincing King Ahasuerus that the Jewish population in the King’s domain was a threat to the king’s rule. Acting upon this lie, the King was persuaded to issue a decree that all Jews were to be killed.

What an illustration of pride and jealousy, the pride of life in this man, working such evil in his heart to annihilate God’s people! Because of this, all Jews were greatly afraid and began to fast and pray, including Mordecai. He was at the gates of the court in sackcloth and ashes, mourning this decree when Queen Esther was told about what her uncle was doing. She sent a message to her uncle, who shared why he was acting this way.

Esther then became greatly afraid for herself and her people. Mordecai wanted her to go to the King to intervene for her people, the Jews. Esther was frightened to do so, because the king had not called for her for some time. She knew that anyone who went to the King without being summoned could be put to death. Hear the word of Mordecai to her:

“Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, ‘Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, liberation and rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish [since you did not help when you had the chance].

And who knows whether you have attained royalty for such a time as this [and for this very purpose]?” Esther 4: 13-14 AMP

God had placed Esther in the position of Queen for just this time. And Esther, as she had been trained to do, obeyed her uncle and saved her people. She risked her life to go into the King without being summoned. She did what she was called to do and relied on the Lord to see her through. She asked Mordecai and the Jews in that area, as well as her handmaids, to fast and pray for three full days. After this time was completed, she said:

“Then, I will go in to [see] the king [without being summoned], which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” Esther 4:15-16 AMP

Esther put her fate fully in God’s hands, obeying what her Uncle Mordecai told her to do. God showed her exactly how to proceed, and of course, His plan worked! The outcome for Haman and his entire family was to be hanged on what he had built in preparation for Mordecai and other Jews.

Esther was called to something she never sought nor anticipated. She was appointed to an unexpected, lofty position in the kingdom where she grew up. Esther proved herself faithful to this glorious calling despite the risks to herself. All of the threatened Jews rejoiced in her obedience on their behalf. Esther laid down her life, literally, for this cause. She was truly placed in this royal position for such a time as this!

Many of us are called and chosen, born and placed exactly when and where God would have us. We arrive on the earth to do His will. We are remaining faithful to the fulfillment of His purposes as they unfold. God’s people are in specific positions for just the time they are needed, all over the world. You cannot limit God by saying He would never have His own in a certain area, profession, or work.

God always has a people prepared to do His will as various events come upon His own. God has a plan and we are essential to it, faithful servants to God and His people. Children are born into this world to be ready for what is needed in their era. God is now moving many into position as the sons and daughters of God take their place today. They are prepared, called, chosen, and proving to be faithful in the fulfilling of their ministry for such a time as this.

God has a glorious destiny for us, and we shall likely be as astounded as Esther was to find herself as God's destiny for each of us unfolds. Godly, committed people are significant for the lives of many others. It matters not to God whether we are known, incredibly gifted, or even trained for the future path of life He has for us. It matters not how His path for us meanders and flows along His way. No earthly river flows in a straight path and neither does God’s river of Life.

When God chooses us, we will walk the path to carry out what He needs for His great plan of redemption. Neither is He caught unaware should someone refuse to obey. Our Lord was not surprised when Judas disobeyed by betraying Him. Whom He calls, He equips to perform His will. We need not tell the Lord we cannot because we are too insignificant, like Gideon did, or that we cannot speak well, as Moses stated.

When God Almighty says we can do something, we do it! The less we trust in our own strength and abilities, the more His strength operates in our being. He has a plan. His will is established in the heavens, sealed by the resurrection victory of His Son. He opens and closes doors, provides endings for new beginnings, lighting the path before us step by step. God always knows what He is doing, even when His plans are unknown to us.

Whatever we are called to do, we are chosen in Him for that very purpose. He even causes us to be faithful to His calling by His strength, His seed of faith.

“For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?…” Romans 8:29-31 BSB

Who, indeed, can be against us when God is for us? However, what Mordecai said was true. If Esther did not step forward, God would raise another to save His people. But God knew she would do it. He knew she was well prepared and would succeed. It was His idea! It’s reassuring to read how very human and very holy the people of the Old Testament were. We see how challenges and obstacles are presented to each man or woman who served Him. Such biblical accounts can teach us much.

The message surely is that we should expect challenges in our calling as we walk with the Lord in obedient surrender. This is reiterated and confirmed in multiple New Testament passages of scripture. Can you think of anyone in the book, old or new, who was called in God and had a smooth path? Numerous biblical characters reveal just the opposite. Abraham and Sarah had much sorrow and distress before producing Isaac, the child of the Promise.

What does God do then but test the faith of Abraham further? God orders Abraham to take this precious, God-given son and sacrifice Isaac to God. In those days, many pagan religions had the sacrifice of their children as part of their worship, so it was not quite as strange to him as it sounds to us. Abraham’s obedience in this test confirms him as the Father of our faith because, through Isaac, God established the lineage of Jesus.

Another founding father of our faith, Jacob, had no easy time winning the love of his life, Rachel. After Jacob married Rachel, children were slow to arrive for her. Rachel and Leah, two sisters married to Jacob, birthed all twelve men whose destiny was to be the originators of the twelve tribes of Israel. When you read their account, you will see how much Rachel went through as she struggled with her barrenness while Leah produced son after son. Along the way, Rachel did not act as one would expect of a godly woman.

“When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. ‘Give me children, or I will die!”’she said to Jacob. Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, ‘Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?’

Then she said, ‘Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, that she may bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family.’” Genesis 30:1-3 BSB

Jacob was called, chosen, and eventually faithful to fulfill what God ordained for him. Both Joseph and David were called to highly exalted positions in the Lord, but faced years and years of adversity before they came to any visible evidence of their calling. Both were foolish, or innocent enough to tell their siblings how God would exalt them in the future. They were ridiculed and mistreated by their brothers and sisters. Jealousy among siblings was alive and well then and now.

Joseph was betrayed and nearly lost his life because his brothers sold him into slavery. None of them knew that, forty years later, Joseph would save the lives of his brothers who had betrayed him, along with many others of that time. On the way to managing Egypt for the king, Joseph was betrayed, set up by the wife of the king, imprisoned, and forgotten. Yet here is what Joseph, who had forgotten his childhood dream, told his siblings as they bowed trembling before him:

“But Joseph replied, ‘Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.

Therefore do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.’” So Joseph reassured his brothers and spoke kindly to them.” Genesis 50:19-21 BSB

Joseph was unaware that his grievous betrayal as a teenager, by his very own brothers, would be placing Joseph where he was needed as he was faithful to God’s calling. David had to flee from Saul, his former benefactor, fighting for fifteen years to save himself and his men, until inheriting the rulership of Israel that God had promised him. Elijah fled from Queen Jezebel because she was determined to kill him because Elijah had thoroughly exposed, humiliated, and annihilated the Queen’s god, Baal.

Everyone called of God faced opposition, enemies, endings, beginnings, loss and grief, as well as far too many years of waiting in our human estimation, until they finally saw God’s calling for them become a reality. All of the enemies of the saints of God show forth how the world views those in high and lofty positions. People desiring to be rulers often covet being powerful, admired, and exalted in the eyes of others.

Those devoted to the self-life are jealous of anyone God calls to exalted positions in the world, becoming their enemies who work against them. Jesus saw through the scribes and Pharisees who held such attitudes in their hearts despite their pious words and religious behavior. He knew it was the self-life of lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life that motivated them. God’s called, chosen, and faithful do no such thing as they love the Lord and are called to accomplish His purpose, regardless of adversity.

God’s view and expectation for His chosen leaders are that we are to be servants who do what we do unto the Lord, not for the admiration and esteem of people. To minister is to serve, translated as such in both the Old and New Testaments. It is not to rule, exalting oneself over those who are being served, but even Jesus’ disciples displayed this behavior. After two of them asked for a position of prominence on His right and left in the Kingdom, Jesus said:

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.

Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28 NIV

God’s servants have a heart for His work placed within them by God Himself. Those called to sonship are sons of God indeed, men and women who are to be given authority in the kingdom while serving His people as priests from a pure heart of love. Sons of God learn by walking in intimacy with the Lord, following the Lamb wherever He goes and relying on him like little children do. Little children can do nothing in themselves, and we are to be like little children in entering God’s kingdom to serve Him and Him alone.

“Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!” 1 John 3:1b KJV

Father God has a myriad of called, chosen, and faithful sons throughout the centuries. Surely the disciples and early martyrs are among this heavenly gathering in Zion where just men are made perfect. Paul said we are called specifically to Mt. Zion:

“Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24 BSB

We are all chosen of God, conscripted through no choice or qualification of our own. This calling is laid upon us by Father God, and we are compelled, as Jeremiah proclaimed, to be faithful to do it. Many sons, in both male and female bodies on this earth, are now being perfected, in preparation for the unification of the body of Christ. Those on the other side who are dwelling in Zion await our perfection so that we, joined together in Him, fulfill our calling and purpose on this earth.

All experience adversity that brings the refining fire of our Lord to prepare us as overcomers. A dear Catholic friend shared this wonderful story of St. Teresa of Avila, a nun who was known to have a very intimate relationship with Jesus her Lord.

In The Life of St. Teresa, we find this account of her experiences, written in 1582:

“Teresa describes the journey thus: ‘We had to run through many dangers. At no part of the road were the risks greater than within a few leagues of Burgos, at a place called Los Pontes. The rivers were so high that the water in places covered everything; neither road nor the smallest footpath could be seen, only water everywhere, and two abysses on each side. It seemed foolhardiness to advance, especially in a carriage, for if one strayed ever so little off the road (then invisible), one must have perished.’

The saint is silent on her share of the adventure, but her companions relate that seeing their alarm, she turned to them and encouraged them, saying that ‘as they were engaged in doing God’s work, how could they die in a better cause?’ She then led the way on foot. The current was so strong that she lost her footing, and was on the point of being carried away when our Lord sustained her.

‘Oh, my Lord!’ she exclaimed, with her usual loving familiarity, ‘when wilt Thou cease from scattering obstacles in our path?’ ‘Do not complain, daughter,’ the Divine Master answered, ‘for it is ever thus that I treat My friends.’ ‘Ah, Lord, it is also on that account that Thou hast so few!’ was her reply.” (Reprint: J Franciscus Archiepiscopus West Monest. 27 Sept. 1904).

Such stories of God’s chosen are very real accounts that show forth the humanity of the saints through the lessons they learned. We may identify with St. Teresa, perhaps even joining this beleaguered saint in such a comment to the Lord. Anything worth doing brings opposition. God allows the fires of change from opposition to strengthen and refine us. What the enemy of our souls means for evil, God means for good.

We remind ourselves of the account of David’s journey from shepherd to King of all Israel. Recall the beloved Apostle Paul, who received a dramatic calling that worked a complete transformation from Saul, the zealous persecutor of the Jews, to Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ. Paul faced opposition, persecution, imprisonment, torture, and rejection, finally experiencing a martyr’s death.

When called by Almighty God, it is a tremendous honor to be chosen and equipped by God Himself to do His work by faithful fulfillment of our part in God’s plan.

“… From everyone who has been given much, much will be ·demanded [required]. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected.” Luke 12:48 EXB

Thus it has ever been so that God’s anointed suffer persecution and loss, particularly by those who covet our God-given calling. What others do not realize is that when God gives much spiritually to a person, it comes at the high price of death to self. Much more is expected of us as we can no longer do what we want. We are bond-slaves to Christ because we know the truth and are responsible for living it.

“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17 KJV

Where do any of us get the idea that God’s calling will create a smooth path for us? And yet it seems we are still surprised when we encounter obstacles on our way to being faithful to what He has called and chosen us to do. Here’s the thing: chosen servants of God cannot avoid our crucifixion! We must die to self to reign with Him. Through the lives of His precious saints, then and now, we are learning that when it is His idea, He will make His intended outcome happen, no matter what.

God’s will absolutely, irrevocably, and in due season will be done. What seems like defeat in this life is turned to victory in God. How could we ever entertain the unbelief that what God has purposed to do, what His will in any matter with any person, will not be done? Who can deny or prevent it? As we are faithful to our calling, He promises:

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalms 16:11 KJV

These words are more than just a statement. He is faithful and true to show us our specific path so we are able to enter into the very specific life He has called us to live. Our part is surrender and patient faith. And what a surprise His path can be when God’s shy and fearful lambs become bold lions, when His humanly weak vessels display supernatural strength. And so shall it ever be for the called, chosen, and faithful.