The Joy of Yes

What are your gifts from God? Do you know? Can you list them? Do you think that they have changed with the passage of time?

We were talking in Sunday school today about the disciples. Was there something special about them that prompted Jesus to call them? Did they have “something extra?” Were they ready made disciples, or did Jesus call them and then God equip them? Were there some called who said “no?”

And if we believe and experience that when we are living in the will of God, answering his calling, using his gifts, that we experience joy, then how much joy must the disciples have felt in those three years, walking with Jesus and following him? Add to that how horrible it must have been for them after he was crucified – their friend had died, their God had died, and what were they supposed to do next?

Do you know your gifts? And do you find the joy of using them, of answering God’s call? And what is it like when you can’t answer God’s call? Or when what you want to do isn’t what you are being called to do?

Aren’t I full of questions tonight?

I think, if asked, I could list my gifts – at least a couple of them. To do that isn’t boastful – it isn’t arrogant – it’s declaring how God is working in my life. He’s working in all of our lives, so that doesn’t make me special or unique. It makes me God’s child, just as we all are. It also doesn’t mean that I always use the gifts to his benefit, or with sufficient skill to allow his will to be done.

I do know that when I do say “yes” to a calling from God that I feel joy. It’s that kid of joy that comes from working closely with God. It’s one of the great blessings of being a part of the Body of Christ.

What is it like when we don’t answer God’s call? I believe it’s frustrating. It has happened to me in the past; it happens to me even today. What do you do when you feel a pull, a need to do God’s will, but circumstances prevent it? I think God understands, but the urge doesn’t go away. The frustration remains.

Hearing a call is a complicated matter. Answering it is even more complicated. I’m blessed that in so many ways, I am able to say yes to what God wants me to do. For there lies joy.