Calling

QUESTION:

In the book, To Date or Not to Date, I saw a light that the 21st century woman has a calling. How do I reconcile this with a guy that is not moving with this trend?

ANSWER:

It is true that a woman has a calling as a child of God. She was given a purpose to accomplish and a destiny to fulfill.

Galatians 3:26-29 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

As a woman, you have a part to play in the Kingdom of God.

Now, if a guy does not believe this, he is going to cause some issues for you. You can decide to marry him and have a good and comfortable life, but you will never be fulfilled because your heart will still be yearning for more than just being his wife and the mother of his kids.

Secondly, there is the issue of God. One day, you will stand before him to tell Him what you did with your life and, like the story of the stewards in the bible, you will give account of the talents He gave you . If you choose a man over your divine destiny, you will be like the servant who buried his talent. You will not receive a crown in heaven for being married or having “Mrs” before your name, rather you will receive a crown for fulfilling the destiny you were sent here to accomplish.

Look at the story of Joseph. He was to marry Mary and found out that she was pregnant with another person’s child (her calling). He initially wanted to send her away because the destiny she was carrying was something he could not explain, but he got a call from God in a dream that the baby (her calling) was God’s.

Joseph immediately took responsibility for Mary’s calling. He protected her and her calling, closed his carpentry shop without notice and left town at once in order to prevent Mary’s calling from being killed. He went to another town to start business all over again. Many people talk about the sacrifice of Mary but forget to speak about the great sacrifice of Joseph. He postponed his wedding night for nine months because he understood that what his wife was carrying was beyond precious.

Matthew 1:18 -25 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

Matthew 2:13 – 14 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

Matthew 2:19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

If you are looking for a man to marry, marry a Joseph. Not necessarily a man named Joseph, but a man who will do anything for you to fulfill your God ordained destiny because he knows that by marrying you, God has placed the responsibility of your calling in his hands.

For our men, when you marry a woman, you marry more than her body. You marry her spirit, soul, body, dreams, aspirations, career and destiny. So if you are not willing to carry all these, please, move aside for a man who can and if you are not ready to marry a woman totally, you have no business putting one in your house. No woman should be limited because they said ‘I do’ to you. “One shall chase a thousand and two ten thousand”, the bible says, which means that your coming together should have a multiplying effect on each other, not merely an addition and definitely not a subtraction.

by Dr Linda Oyanna … for UNLIMITED.

You can order for a copy of To Date or not to Date.

Dr Linda Oyanna is a public speaker on health, relationship, marriage and family. She is a mother figure, mentor and role model for several young ladies who desire the balance she has been able to achieve among her many roles.

A friend of mine asked me a question recently and I felt that there may be some people out there who may be going through the same thing and seriously getting distracted from their God given assignment. I believe that this will be a blessing to them.

Q: Good day ma.

A: Hello. Good morning.

Q: Please ma, I need guidance.

How can I go about starting up the assignment God has given to me?

I have this passion of reaching out to young people but my challenge is how to start without it affecting the other one. I will be 35 this year and it pains so much that I have not done anything with respect to my purpose.

A: Stop feeling bad about your age, age doesn’t limit God so shouldn’t limit you. Whenever you are ready and willing to be used by God, he uses you.

Yes, I agree that the earlier the better. However, God can still accomplish what he wants to accomplish in your life no matter how old you are. The most important thing is for you to get on board with him to fulfill your destiny.

Mt 20:1 – 9 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man [that is] an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, [that] shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them [their] hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that [were hired] about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.

The 11th hour labourers came late but God still had use for them.

God wanted to use Moses as the deliverer when he was 40 and Moses messed it up. He further ‘wasted’ 40 more years and became ready at 80.

Did he still fulfill his calling at 80?

Yes, he still became the deliverer but we should also realize that the 40 years he ‘wasted’ God used in shaping him to be the deliverer. So all things work together for good to them who are called according to His purpose.

God can make it work together.

Instead of feeling like you have not started and you are wasting time, look at the lessons you learnt during this time and use them as a building block for your calling.

Secondly, you may just be wrong that you have not done anything. Quit possibly you have but you have not realized it. At times we wait for the red sea to part before we believe we are doing ministry but in fact, that person you gave a smile was you doing ministry.

Now, a question, reach out to youths how?

Q: Giving young people counsel on making right decisions before embarking on anything.

A: Are you not already doing this?

If you are looking for a platform to do so ,then that is a different ball game altogether

Q: I am not ma.

A: Then what do you want to do or what are you supposed to do that will give you the feeling of walking in your ministry?

I assume that as a pastor’s wife, you have access to people and you would have helped people to walk in their calling or help them make the right decisions.

Q: No ma.

A: Let me understand your life then.

Q: What we do basically in our meetings is majorly prayers .

10 hours prayer every month

A: I am not Talking about you standing in the pulpit to preach.

Have you ever sat down with anyone who was confused about his or her life and you helped the person sort it out?

Q: yes ma

A: Ok. Is that not ministry? Is that not the assignment God has given you?

Are you sure that you are not expecting to start your calling in a way that is different than God wants you to?

The most important thing to God when it comes to you walking in your destiny is not whether you reach one person at a time or if you stand in front of a crowd. Whether all you do is affect one person or you affect a million for him throughout your life, what he cares about most is your obedience to what he has told you to do even if it is for you to touch only one soul.

Q: Okay ma, I get it.

Why I was becoming worried about it was because I met someone who said a lot of things, you know all these people that say they hear God and put confusion in your life.

A: As far as I know and can see, if you are to affect people positively as your calling and you have succeeded in affecting one, then you are on the right track. If you want your influence to increase, I advise you to go to God and ask him to expand your influence based on his will and give you the opportunity to do so.

If God wants you to affect 5 people and you affect 5 million, he will not reward you for affecting 5 million. He sent you to only 5. You have walked in disobedience and once you start no 6, you have stepped into trouble and out of his grace.

If you have a farm and you hire workers to till the ground and plant your seeds, you would expect them to do just that. If, in order to impress you, they clear your land, enter your neighbour’s farm and clear his also without tilling your field and planting your seeds, you won’t be impressed with their hard work. Rather, you will be upset and will not pay them what was agreed because they did not do what you asked them to do.

God won’t kill you or punish you for being disobedient but he doesn’t reward disobedience. You have to stick to what he has asked you to do.

Be faithful in the one he has called you to do and let him determine the scope and the how. Be faithful in the little first. When you see one person, treat that person as if he is the only one you have been sent to. Jesus came to save the whole world but refused to go beyond Israel when he was on earth. He said clearly that he was sent to the lost in Israel.

Mt 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

My dear, stick to what God has called you to do, forget about what any other person is saying or doing.

Q: okay ma.

A: The people you are looking at did not call you and will not judge you.

Be focused. Sit with God and find out exactly what and how he wants you to walk in your destiny. When you know, nobody will distract you whether they claim to hear God or not. There are some people you listen to and when you hear what they are doing in their lives, you feel intimidated and sad because of their achievements and you look down on yourself.

Please know that our journeys are different, our impacts are different and our callings are different. Let stories of people like that motivate you to give yourself more to God and your calling and not drive you to self-doubt and sadness.

2Cor 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

Comparing your progress with others is just futile and will cause you heartache.

Q: You are right ma.

A: See the Lord and the servants with talents. He did not give all of them the same talent because he understood that his servants had different capabilities.

Mt 25:15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

The bible says according to his several ability. God knows your ability. He knows the ability of the one he called to affect the whole world and the ability of the one he called to affect one person.

Q: Hmmm … I have read this over 5 times and prayer points are just coming into heart.

A: Praise God.

You may never be an Oyedepo, Kumuyi, Oyakhilome, Adeboye, or Enenche, but you will be who God called you to be. Stick to it.

Q: That is right ma.

A: One man organized a crusade, put in a lot and only one person got born again and that one person was Billy Graham.

A woman was called to take care of 8 orphan boys and one of them was Watchman Nee.

The man who organized the crusade would have felt that his crusade was not a success but God saw differently. Imagine the difference Billy Graham made.

The woman who cared for only 8 boys would have seen a minister getting thousands saved and could have felt she was wasting her time but God saw differently. Watchman Nee touched thousands of Christians across many generations.

The way we see is not the way God sees, so don’t let anyone who has limited sight like us as humans chart a course for your life.

Q: True ma. Seriously, I must confess that it is as though you are using hammer. These words are hitting me and creating more burdens for prayer.

A: If you feel a burden to pray, then go and pray. God has something to tell you.

Q: Yes ma, I will do that right away.

A: Good

Q: God bless you ma.

A: Amen.

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