Proverbs 15:23 A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

I have to admit I find great pleasure in doing this. It is not wrong to find joy in our ministries. Joy is a source of encouragement. Joy after all is the second fruit of the spirit. Yet to maintain that joy I have to submit to the Lord that I am not in control of the seasons.

I’ve gone thru seasons myself. I’ve been helped in those seasons, as is right, that men should be there for me. I haven’t always seen my way clear in those seasons and needed help. I had to submit myself and allow myself to be helped. This too is right and the will of the Lord.

Isaiah 50:4 The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

My tongue for the most part is this keyboard. It has reached 63 nations and over 600 users. If nothing else it has taught me that I do not know who is weary and who needs a word in due season. So how can I serve you my readers if I do not know who you are, what your suffering or what season you are in, or if you are due which word?

He awakens my ear to hear. I have to submit myself to the One who does know. The same goes for both the servant and the served. We both have to trust God and believe that He knows our hearts and is so invested in our relationship that He will answer our cry.

Jeremiah 17:10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Our way is to seek out the Lord and find fruit in doing so.

Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Would you like to respond to God like that? Many would and I’d love for everyone to have a calling and to be faithful to that calling. There is nothing more satisfying than to obey God. So why are so many Christians less than filled with joy?

When I was first baptized I had church leadership tell me I was being called into the missionary field. My response to them was, “I haven’t heard God calling.” Men have plans, men have agendas, men have quotas, and men have men to answer to in their ministries. While it might feel good to be chosen by people you respect, you should prayerfully submit yourself to the Lord before taking on anything.

Isaiah was prepared to answer God’s call because of the time he had spent before God in faithful obedience to his relationship with God, not his title or position. Granted it is easier to listen to and respond to men than it is God, but it is less satisfying also.

First seek ye the Kingdom means making Jesus Lord. Once you have made Him Lord you are subject to His commands. How can you respond to those commands, to go and do according to His will, if you don’t spend time in His presence? How will you know His voice if you do not practice listening?

The greatest witness to this I ever saw was a successful business man, a leader in the community, upon accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior was told how much the church could use him. He said, “I don’t need a job, I need a Savior.”

That man understood priority.