Aug 3, 2025 | Ptr Jim Welchel
When we come to Christ, we often discover that our ideas of what life’s purpose is turn out to be quite different from what God has in mind for us. So why are you here? We may not know how all the circumstances in our lives fit into God’s purpose for us, but we can be sure that He is working everything out according to His plan.
Even the apostle Paul’s calling became clear to him only after a series of events and a long time of waiting (Acts 9:15). As we know, Paul used to persecute the believers and even approved of Stephen’s stoning. After his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, God used Ananias to let Paul know God’s specific calling for him: 1-To be a witness to kings; 2-To be a witness to the children of Israel; 3-To be the apostle to the Gentiles. For Paul, this was a radical transformation! After being with the disciples for a few days, he began fulfilling God’s calling for him right away (Acts 9:19-20). Instead of seeking to destroy the church, Paul goes to the Jewish synagogue and starts building them up by proclaiming Jesus to them. The people, however, did not respond to the gospel the way Paul may have expected them to, and he had to escape from getting killed (Acts 9:23-25). He spent the next three years in the deserts of Arabia, learning from God and waiting to get back on his mission. Upon returning to Jerusalem, the disciples were all afraid of him (Acts 9:26). Only Barnabas believed that Paul was genuinely a believer and introduced him to the apostles. When Paul once again sought to fulfill God’s calling to witness to the Jews, he encountered opposition such that the believers had to send him away from Jerusalem back to his hometown Tarsus (Acts 9:27-30). It seems that every time Paul got on his mission, something happened that blocked the way! Perhaps the apostles sent him to Tarsus because they didn’t want Paul causing trouble in Jerusalem. God’s purpose didn’t happen quite as planned: 1-He fled for his life from Damascus; 2- He spent three years in hiding in Arabia; 3-He was rejected by the apostles in Jerusalem; 4- He was sent home to Tarsus – for ten years! In the long waiting time, Paul was most probably still doing ministry in Tarsus while hoping to get the “call” from the apostles to be sent on his mission.
In all, it was almost fifteen years since God gave Paul his mission, yet nothing seemed to be happening. Perhaps some of you are in a setback, or in a long waiting time that prevents you from fulfilling what God has called you to do. But know that God is working to prepare you and the situation surrounding your calling for you to be able to fulfill the purpose He has for you. God is not done with you!
God has called all believers to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), and the main task assigned to us is to “make disciples”. But we cannot fulfill this mission until we make disciples “of all the nations”. We are to reach out to people outside our own culture and comfort zones. Here are some lessons that we can learn during our waiting season:
- God has a purpose for your life
- God doesn’t always tell us how or when it will be fulfilled
- God just tells us to trust and obey today
God reveals the next step as you remain faithful to what God has called you to do. You need to obey what He tells you today!
While Paul was waiting in Tarsus, many things were taking place in other places where other believers were scattered because of persecution (Acts 11:19-20). Some began sharing to non-Jews (Gentiles) in Antioch, and many were getting saved. The apostles sent Barnabas to see if it was from God since this was a new ministry (Acts 11:21-24). It so happens that Antioch and Tarsus are near each other, so Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Paul, and they went back together to minister in Antioch (Acts 11:25-26). After fifteen long years, Paul was finally on his way to fulfill his calling, starting at Antioch. But why were they there? Was it only because of the persecution, or was it to accomplish a higher purpose? Paul may not have understood why all these things happened, but God was working behind the scenes to accomplish His purpose in Paul’s life. Whatever the circumstances are that are so difficult for you, what you don’t see is what God is doing all around to be able to accomplish His purpose in your life. Don’t give up too soon before you see how God is working out all these things for your good. Continue to trust Him, to take steps of obedience and let God reveal the rest in His own time — that’s what happened in Paul’s life after fifteen years (Acts 13:1-3).
This launched Paul’s first missionary journey that took them to places that were relatively close to Antioch. For their second missionary journey, the Spirit prevented them from going into Asia minor (Acts 16:6-7). They just kept going wherever God led them, and ultimately, Paul and his team were able to reach even Europe as far as Spain in his third missionary journey. Within 300 years, almost the entire Roman empire has become Christian. Paul and his team were the ones who started this movement! But for Paul to follow God’s purpose, he had to GO BEYOND! He had to go not just to places that he was familiar with or where he had been before, but to go to the ends of the earth. Three billion people mostly in the 10/40 Window have not even heard about Jesus. The Philippines is the only pre-dominantly Christian in that area. What is God calling you to do to GO BEYOND? Fulfill your calling today!