2 Peter 1:10-11 - Do you hear the call?

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:10-11

Summary: Be eager to confirm your call because if you do this you will never stumble. This will give you entry into the eternal kingdom of Christ.

Thoughts: I've been thinking alot about my call lately. I have passed my first set of interviews and will be Commissioned as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church at Annual Conference this June. It was late in the year of 2011 that I first admitted that I was hearing a call from God and it was this call that led me into youth ministry. My life is very different now than it was 10 years ago. I have gone from making a 6 digit salary in the Software industry to a salary in the church that is one quarter of that. I have gone from managing 20 people to managing none (although I could consider myself sort of managing the adults and youth that I work with at church!). My family is also different. My children, who were 5 and 9 are now 15 and 19. My husband is now the CEO of the Youth Worker Movement. I have transitioned from a youth ministry volunteer to a full-time youth minister, in leadership with youth in the Conference and the Jurisdiction. And even though I have been in ministry for almost 10 years now, I sometimes find myself unsure of what I am doing. I still wonder what God is going to call me to next. That's the exciting part of following God's call on your life. Once you let go and begin to follow where God is leading, you never know where you will end up next. So as far as the scripture goes, I think I am still going to stumble, even though I have confirmed my call. But even when I stumble, I know that God is there, to pick me up, dust me off, and set me on God's path again. I just have to remain open to God's leading!

Prayer: God, Help me listen for your call for my life and help me be open to new experiences and possibilities as you open new doors for me. Amen.

1 Peter 4:7-9 - The Discipline of Prayer

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:7-9

Summary: The end is near so be serious and disciplined for your prayers. Love each other and be hospitable without complaining.

Thoughts: There's alot of good stuff in this scripture of just 3 verses, but what draws my attention today is the first sentence: "be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers." Prayer has been a struggle for me all of my life. As an extrovert I find it difficult to follow the words of  Psalm 46 to "be still, and know that I am God." Being still is not my forte. I am an active sort and have been all of my life. So it's hard to take time to pray and even harder to take time to listen. After all, it took 40 years before I heard God calling me to ministry. Perhaps God waited that long to make the call, but it is more likely that it took me that long to hear God! Having said that, I should also say that when I take the time to be still, when I take the time to read scripture and contemplate what God is saying to me on that day in that text, when I take the time to listen, it is amazing what God shares. And so I continue, in my limited way, to open myself to God, knowing that God can use me if I make myself available.

Prayer: Lord help me to continue to work to develop the habit of prayer so that you can develop incredible things inside of me! Amen.