In every dispensation, God calls men to fulfill a specific mandate on earth, and in this end time or eleventh hour, God is calling many for His work in order to depopulate hell and lead men to Heaven. One of the most asked questions about people who come to know Jesus Christ is whether they are called by God or not for an assignment. I will share a few ways by scripture on how you know whether you are called for the work of ministry.
When you read the Bible, men were called by God for a specific purpose. Adam for instance was called to tend and keep the Garden – Genesis 2: 15, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. From this we can deduce that when God calls a man he gives him an assignment.
It was the same with Abraham. God called him in Genesis 12:1:
“Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you”.
God called Abraham and told him to leave His father’s house to an ordained destination. The first thing to note is that a person who feels they are called by God must hear the voice of the Lord calling them for a specific task. You must hear the voice of the one calling you.
Your calling can unfold through an encounter, i.e. the audible voice of God, like in the case of Samuel in 1 Samuel 3. Your calling can also come from the Bible (a conviction while reading the scriptures); from dreams, personal conviction/perception or a prophetic word from a prophet. God may give you dreams about the specific calling and details related to the calling, e.g. you may have a dream of you preaching, or fishing, or sweeping a church or serving a meal to a man of God. You may also see many men of God constantly in your dreams, etc. You must seek the interpretation of such dreams. Most people who are called have had unforgettable encounters with God. God makes His voice available to His servants. Men who God in the Bible who were called had extraordinary supernatural encounters with God. These encounters usually came with an assignment and details of the mandate. One example is of Moses and the burning bush in Exodus 3:10, which reads, “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt”.
Another example is of Gideon and the Angel of God in Judges 6:14. The scripture reads, “Then the Lord turned to him and said, go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
Paul also had an encounter with the light of the Lord in Acts 26:16-18 which reads,
“But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will [b]deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I [c]now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified[d] by faith in Me”.
You know you are called when you have an unusual appetite for the things of God e.g. prayer, reading the Word, fasting, etc. God will give you an unusual appetite for prayer (you can pray without ceasing), and an interest in God and His house. Another indication is your admiration for people being used by God in strange dimensions. You will also realize that in a group, your passion and zeal for God is unusual. The Bible says in John 2:17, “then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” Once I became born again, I began to read the Bible often, I woke up at dawn to pray and I personally selected one day of the week to fast. I also wasn’t quick to leave church when church closed and would always enquire if I could be of help in church. I was naturally drawn to evangelism and soul winning so when I got the chance, I would go out to evangelize. Sundays after church closed, I would sometimes step out with a few of the brethren and we would go out to win souls. I then moved it to Saturdays and spent most of my Saturdays on the street, winning souls.
The calling always comes with empowerment. When God calls you, He empowers you. You know you are called when you begin to exhibit supernatural capabilities. Everyman who was called by God was empowered for their mandate. These men and women could interpret dreams, expound scriptures, win souls, lead battles , cast out demons, take territories and take down giants etc One of the signs you are called for a task is empowerment. You need to pray for God to empower you for the task He has given you.
Most people know they are called but do not know what they are called to do. Knowing you are called is not enough. Desire to know the assignment so you can fulfill it. Separate yourself in prayer and in fasting and ask God what He has called you to do and He will speak to you. God will not hide your mandate from you. He will reveal it to you when you ask. Matthew 7:7 says “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you”. The time is too short and you cannot spend years not knowing what you have been called to do or what you have been called into. Speak to your Pastor and seek counsel for what to do if you are still unsure what you are called into.
Remember that every calling comes with a responsibility and one day you will be required to give an account of the mandate. Keep your focus on Jesus Christ. Always remember where He picked you up from and know that it is by His mercy that you have been called. Always pray that you fulfill your ministry and that you end well. Ecclesiastes 7:8 says “the end of a thing is better than its beginning”. I pray you fulfill your ministry
