Last time you were encouraged to write about your sense of call, both when you first sensed God’s call in your life and how you currently see it. With that in your memory bank, we are now going to use your first 15 minute break to remember biblical descriptions of God’s call to a variety of humans in both the Old and New Testaments.
I will mention a series of stories of God’s call, but you may remember others that you will want to add to the list. Some familiar stories of call are those of Abram and Sarai, Moses, Elijah, Hanna and several of the prophets including the famous Micah 6:8. In the New Testament, we begin with Mary’s call to give birth. The story of Jesus baptism and temptation also center around God’s call. Many people think of Paul’s dramatic Damascus Road incident but do not overlook Paul’s description in 2 Corinthians 5 of our call to be ambassadors of reconciliation. Then, of course there is the famous Great Commission in Matthew 28:19ff.
Your first break can consist of simply making a list of these and other biblical calls on paper or in your computer or IPad. Leave space for writing after each of the calls on your list. That is a space for writing that will be used in your second break. For now, simply make the list and let the very writing them down stir your imagination at the variety of ways in which God has called people to their ministry.
At your second break, begin to fill in the spaces with your memory of how the Bible described those calls. Don’t look up the biblical reference yet. It’s important to first recall how your memory has shaped those stories. Pick any of the stories that jump out at you and write your description. Again, spend no more than fifteen minutes and then set it aside.
You may want to continue these memory descriptions during future breaks. There is no need to do all of them but try to do a few from both testaments.
