One preacher once said, “I want what God has for me in a decade - today!” The response of the listeners was to be wowed by a man of God who had seemly called the future into his present. However, only a few months later his ministry was greatly damaged because his character could not sustain the anointing that was on him.

Many people feel called by God to entered into the deep things of Him, but that calling can be forestalled by stepping ahead of Him, or by trying to force the will and call of God. Abraham and his wife did this. They both had a call on their lives and in their physical seed all the world was to be blessed (Genesis 15:3, 5, Genesis 17). However, when the call seemed to be taking too long, they decided to step in and help God. The result was Ishmael and what followed was years of grief for the whole family (Genesis 16, 21). Paul knew that it is easy to step ahead of God and try to anoint ourselves for a work. ‘Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit are you now being made perfect by the flesh?’ (Galatians 3:3).

We can try to force the call of God, but we can also misunderstand His call. Many feel that God is drawing them closer to Him; but instead of drawing close to God, they try to find a ‘title’ or a ‘role’ in the Church. They misunderstood God’s meaning – it was not 'enter the ministry,' but 'enter into My Presence!' Meanwhile, they continue into that ministry and become so busy that they don’t have time to spend with God! Jesus said, “Come aside and rest awhile.” We all need to do that in His presence. Moses was a powerful man of God because he had spent forty years alone with God getting to know His ways.

Our first and foremost call is to know God and love Him. Our first ministry is the call to hidden fellowship with Christ. We are called to a hidden life of worship, where only God knows our true commitment to Him. When we are young in the faith, God may show us many miracles and give us a wonderful anointing. But times of blessing come and go; therefore we need to know not only the blessings of God, but the ways of God. To do this, we must draw close to Him.

John 15 explains that God wants us to abide in Him. We are to dwell with Him, get to know Him and lay deep foundations in Him. We can only do this by surrendering ourselves to Him and setting aside time each day to speak with Him and get to know Him. Then, we must invite Him into every area of our lives. When we do this, we will sense His presence with us 24/7 as we walk together in abiding faith.

Many think the call to the deep things of God is a call to ministry. But before we can tell other people about God, we need to know Him for ourselves. If we want to lead people to the mountain of God, we must have first been there alone. We have to walk that path before anyone else will follow, otherwise it will be the blind leading the blind.

Jesus said, “Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit, so you will be My disciples” (John 15:4-5).

Paul Backholer

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