Grace as the Foundation of Our Calling

Have you ever experienced a setback? You set out with ambition to accomplish something, but things just didn’t go to plan. How did that make you feel? On more than one occasion I’ve set my alarm, hopped out of bed with aspirations of getting to the office early, only to end up standing at the door realizing I left my access badge at home. While the dejection of that moment is real, it mostly fades after a few minutes.

However, not all setbacks are as easily forgotten. Maybe you felt called by God to a job only to find yourself out of work. Perhaps you were called to be a stay-at-home parent, but circumstances now threaten that possibility. Potentially more perplexing, you felt called to a ministry or witnessing opportunity that doesn’t seem to be producing any fruit, or worse, has actually resulted in some personal loss.

That’s where Paul and Timothy find themselves in this letter. Called as leaders in the early church, they have dedicated their lives to sharing the Gospel. Where has that gotten them? Paul is alone in chains, awaiting execution. It would be easy for Timothy to see this setback as a valid reason to give up and hide.

Paul’s message to Timothy: It is not about what YOU are doing; it’s about what God is doing through you for His purpose. The God who saved us has a higher holy calling for us beyond our circumstances. The fact that we are invited to participate in His work is an amazing grace! What’s more, because of His grace, we can have confidence that His work through us will not be thwarted. If Paul’s execution did not stop what God was doing through him to the gentiles, then why do we think of our misfortunes as setbacks?

Church family, God has graciously invited us to the most prestigious calling anyone can have: to partner with Him to impact eternity. So if the job I feel God has called me to is not progressing how I thought, I can continue moving forward, having confidence that God’s purpose through me will not be thwarted. If my home circumstances are not what I envisioned, I can have confidence that God’s purpose will not be thwarted. Most importantly, if my proclaiming the Gospel, somehow negatively impacts me, I can have the utmost confidence that not only will God’s purpose not be thwarted, but that I will be rewarded one day when I see Jesus face to face, hearing the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”