While reading the description (pg. 183-84) of the biennial International AIDS Conference Kay Warren attended in Bangkok in 2004, I remembered a time when Paul had a similar experience. Acts 17:16 - While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. In a place where God was numbered among many gods, Paul fulfilled his calling in that place by exalting the one true God and making Him known to those who had not know Him. I have a sentence underlined in my Bible that is in the middle of Paul’s teaching that day. He said, “For in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) Kay Warren mentioned another teaching by Paul that led her to understand her God given call to be His hands and feet in the world of HIV/AIDS. This is her passion because this is her call by God.
God established His church to be His body – His hands and feet, but as Scripture teaches, each one is gifted to do that in a unique way. This would be a good time to read 1 Corinthians 12.
So many times we struggle with our purpose or our calling. We wrestle with we aren’t that gifted; we aren’t that special; we aren’t that able, and the truth is, we aren’t. Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) But as Paul said in Acts 17:28, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” I wondered if you had discovered how He has gifted you to be His hands and feet because He has gifted you to do that. It won’t look just like Kay Warren’s or Paul’s or Pat’s or your best friend’s or your spouse’s but in some magnificent way we are gifted to be His hands and feet, a light in the darkness.
Many times we can discover our calling seeking God and merging our answers of questions like:
· What are you passionate about?
· What burdens your heart?
· What charges your battery and gives you energy?
· What are you most motivated by?
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