Devotional 160109

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Many passengers expressed their heartfelt gratitude toward the two pilots, after their amazing landing of the US Air on Hudson River in New York yesterday. It was indeed the skill and smart decision of the pilot that saved the passengers of that flight. It was also amazing how a busy Hudson River would become an open runway for this huge airplane at that period of time. That’s why some thanked God for this miraculous timing. None can explain why that could happen. But for the passengers, they were glad to be alive and saved – I hoped this accident would become a life changing experience for those on board the flight; they would treasure their lives and re-evaluate their purpose of living. I hope we don’t need to wait for an accident like this to reconsider our life purpose. It would be a big regret if we fail to fully live out the purpose of life that God has intended for us. God is raising the same question as He did to Isaiah today, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" (Isaiah 6:8b) How would you answer as you hear that call?

When we speak of the call of God, we are apt to forget the most important feature, and that is the nature of the One Who calls. There is the call of the sea, the call of the mountains, the call of the great ice barriers, but these calls are only heard by the few. The call is the expression of the nature from which it comes, and we can only record the call if the same nature is within us. The call of God is the expression of God's Nature, not of our nature. There are messages or situations of the call of God providentially at work for us, which we recognize and no one else does. It is the threading of God's voice to us in some particular matter, and it is no use consulting anyone else about it. We have to keep that profound relationship between our souls and God.

The call of God is not the echo of my nature; my characters and personal temperament are not considered. As long as I consider my personal temperament and think about what I am fitted for, I shall never hear the call of God. But when I am brought into relationship with God, I am in the condition Isaiah was in. Isaiah's soul was so attuned to God by the tremendous crisis he had gone through that he recorded the call of God to his amazed soul. The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves, we cannot hear a thing God says. To be brought into the zone of the call of God is to be profoundly altered.

I wondered how many lives had been altered, as the passengers stood on the wings of the plane on Hudson River, puzzling of their amazing survival. I remembered how my life was altered after I realized that God had spared me from a deadly boat crash; it was when I dedicated my life to God at the bank of Pearl River. I had no regret ever since, and God has been kindly shaping and using my life for His purpose. You will have no regret as you ‘risk’ your lives in God’s hand. He will definitely make you as blessings to many…

Love you in Christ,
Lawrence