0114 蒙神呼召
我又听见主的声音说:「我可以差遣谁呢?谁肯为我们去呢?」我说:「我在这里,请差遣我!」《以赛亚6:8》
神没有直接呼召以赛亚 —是以赛亚无意中听到神说:「…谁肯为我们去呢?」神的呼召不只是为拣选的少数人,而是为每个人。我是否听到神的呼召,取决于我耳朵的情况,我到底听见了什么,则取决于我属灵的态度。「被召的人多,选上的人少」(马太福音22:14),也就是说,少数人证明他们是蒙拣选的。被拣选的人,就是那些透过耶稣基督与神建立了关系,他们灵命光景被改变,并且耳朵被开通的人。然后,他们不断听到「主的声音」问「谁肯为我们去呢?」然而,神并未单挑某人说:「现在你去吧。」祂没有将祂的意志强加给以赛亚;以赛亚在神的面前,他无意中听到了这个呼召,他的回应完全是自由的,只是说:「我在这里!请差遣我。」
从你的头脑中除去期待神来强迫你或恳求你的想法。当我们的主呼召祂的门徒时,祂并没有从外界施予不可抗拒的压力。祂安静而热情地坚持说「跟从我」的声音,是对那些各种感官都能接收的人说的(见马太福音4:19)。如果我们容让圣灵带领我们与神面对面,我们也会听到以赛亚所听到的「耶和华的声音」。我们也会在完全的自由中,说:「我在这里!请差遣我。」
来自章伯斯的智慧
无论上帝的旨意将我们扔到哪里,无论是贫民窟、商店还是沙漠,我们都必须沿着祂的指示努力工作。永远不可有「我在这里毫无用处」的想法,因为如果你不在所在之地,你当然是毫无用处!无论祂在哪里发动了你的环境,就是祷告。 《故我差遣你》
0114 Called By God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” —Isaiah 6:8
God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, “…who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking, “…who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now, you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard— “the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will say, “Here am I! Send me.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labor along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought— “I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray. —So Send I You, 1325 L