Responding to God's call in our lives.

I can think of no better person to explain God's "calling" or "drawing" us to Him, better than AW Tozer does at the beginning of his book "Pursuit of God":

 We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. "No man can come to me," said our Lord, "except the Father which hath sent me draw him," and it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for the act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: "Thy right hand upholdeth me."

If this didn't make sense the first time you read it, join the club :) Try reading it a few times more..

The principle is something CS Lewis refers to in his book "Mere Christianity"  as the particular "juice" that we were designed to run on. He uses the analogy of cars and how cars can only run on one type of fuel.  For us, that "juice" is God. We cannot properly function on any other fuel than that which God designed us to run on. I heard a pastor say that the guy knocking on the brothel door is seeking God, just in the wrong place. The alcoholic seeks Him at the bottom of the bottle. And so we all seek God in places where He is not to be found. This means the first step in "seeing" or "hearing" God, is to seek Him in the right place. Following hard after Him as Tozer puts it.

The critical thing to remember here is that ALL people were created with that desire for God inexplicably woven into their souls. This is not just for some. Prevenient grace is for all, for me, and for you. We all get that gift. How we respond to it makes us different. Some put other religions into that space, others money, fame, drugs or lust. All seeking God but not where He truly is to be found.

So how do we find Him then? The answer is shockingly simple, yet more difficult to do than to say: We let go of the other things we're trying to force into our souls, the things we seek to fit into that "God shaped hole", and follow Him. Follow the next right thing you know you should do. One of the ways God communicates with us is conscience, and it is usually the one we can recognize easier than others. We KNOW stealing is wrong, or adultery or porn or drugs. We KNOW it. We just don't CHOOSE anything else.

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/couples/files/2013/04/Doing-the-Next-Right-Thing.jpg

You will hear me talk about the "Next right thing" often, so it's probably best explained now: The "next right thing" is a concept I picked up from others, but can't remember who coined the exact phrase. It may be an original phrase of mine or not, but the concept is not new. There are many Bible verses to support the concept. In your world, wherever you are, whatever you may be doing right now, you will be faced with a series of decisions. Small decisions like whether to put butter on your bread, bigger ones like whether to ignore or pursue someone as they walk by, and monumental ones like buying a home or marrying someone.

The idea is that small victories lead to larger ones. You don't have to be a Christian to understand that. Small positive changes lead to larger ones. Fortunately in this life of never ending decisions, they all come one at a time. There may, at times, seem like we are overwhelmed by many decisions, but there is always one you can do before another. And there is one ahead of you right now. It could be whether to click delete or not. Or something bigger. In Matt 6:33 Jesus tells us not to sweat tomorrow as much as we should pay attention to today. To right now. To the next right decision. Then the next one, and the next and the next. In my nautical analogy from the first article, this would help you to constantly remain on course, and avoid drifting off course by small degrees at a time.

And THERE is where God meets us: When we seek Him by making one or more "Next right decisions", He shows up. Try it. See what happens. My life was rocked to the core once I started being obedient to one thing after another. My prayer is that yours will be too.