The Call

What must it be like to receive a call from God?  The scripture today from John 10 tells us we are the sheep and we should recognize his voice.  I think we picture something big when we think of God calling us.  I mean why else would we have stories like Moses and the burning bush or Jonah and the whale or Joseph's dreams of greatness.  It has to be that big in order for it to be a true call from God.  Just take a look at the scripture from Acts today of Tabitha hearing Peter's voice and coming back from the dead.  This is what a call from God is, right?

I think we forget the times in the story where simple things happen.  Like Peter responding to the men's invitation to come to Joppa in the first place, or Elijah not finding God in the whirlwind or the fire, but in the silence, or Samuel hearing a voice at night and mistaking it as Eli's.  God can call us like this too.  In the simple, small, unobtrusive ways.

I guess the real question is can we hear that call?  Do we dare to slow down and listen to it in our lives?  Do we dare to risk being called by God and what that might mean for our lives?  Do we dare to risk our own ideas, our own fears, or our own failings in order to come forth and accept what we are being asked to do? 

May we dare to step forward, may we dare to take time to listen, may we dare to accept our own fears of failing and step out in faith to receive the call.