One morning while I was praying . . . arguing with the Lord about Asia, and reading the Scriptures, I came to Exodus 4:12, “ Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say.” Immediately I wrote China across the entire verse. When I went to China and found the language study tough, I turned to that verse and claimed it. God gave me the language so that I could speak it fluently enough to teach in Chinese. I was never called to China. I saw no flash of light; I heard no voice from heaven. My call was the call to be a teacher. I used it in Asia for years. I can use it just as well at home. For almost 30 years God has directed me in and out of Asia and back again. I am not quibbling about terms. I am seeking to c l a r i f y your thinking that you might fully glo rify God. Learn what your gift is and where He wants you to use it for His glory. Place yourself in God’s will to go or stay as His Spirit directs you in Asia, Europe, Afri ca, South America, the islands of the sea, or here at home. Stop dreaming about a future call and start believing God and obeying Him today. Overseas Crusades m is s io n a r y Bill Davidson leads prisoner to Christ in Costa Rica jail.
Village evangelism carried on by young people through the outreach of Overseas Crusades.
Study the gifts listed in I Corin thians 12. Then, ask God to show you what yours is. I f it is the gift of “ helps,” see that it is used. You can do just as big a job sitting at a secretary’s desk in a mission office here at home as you can do on the mission field overseas, if He has so directed you. God needs those who know their direction from Him. God di rected me to China in 1933. I had been praying around the world. Each day I remembered a differ ent continent and prayed for its missionaries and native workers. My thoughts became saturated with the needs of a world which God loved and for which Christ died. As a child I had been fright ened by a Chinese and developed an abhorrence for China. The in cident stayed with me all my life, and China was the last place in the world I wanted to go to. But as I prayed around the world, God stopped me every Wednesday when I came to Asia. When I heard speakers at missionary conferences, the only ones whose words tugged at my heart were those from China. One of my problems was diffi culty with language. I felt that God had made a mistake in lay ing China on my heart, because I would never master the language.
At least ,this is the normative situation. But the point to re member is that although the re lationship of natural ability to calling or vocation is normally closed or at least complimentary, it cannot be taken for granted. John Soong was a b r i l l i an t young Chinese scientist who ob tained his Ph.D. in chemistry at Columbia University. Obviously this seemed to be his calling, for it was here that his natural tal ents lay. But God had other plans. On the way back to China, John Soong tore up his degree and dropped it into the ocean. He went on to become China’s great est evangelist. Yes, he had a tre mendous mind for science, but God had given him the spiritual gift of evangelism and it was to this task that God wished him to devote his efforts. Now God may have given you some great natural ability. Do not neglect this talent; rather, devel op and use it to the utmost. But in praying about God’s calling for your life, do not assume that it will be identical or compliment ary to your natural gift. It may be quite the opposite. God has also give you, as a Christian, a sp i r i t ua l gift. It could well be that He intends for you to devote your entire life to the deve lopment of this gift. APRIL, 1966
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