A Separate Path

God has a place for everyone, just as he has a plan for everyone. We discussed this in two earlier posts from September when we talked about the Hebrew word, makom, meaning 'the place.' Today we are going to see how to be in this ordained place, your personalized path in life, God will separate you for your calling.

One of the best known and clearest calls in all of the New Testament is found in Acts 13:2, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

The call on your life may not be as spectacular as Paul's, but it will have key elements in common. Some people know God's call on their life from an early age, and others, like Paul, won't see it until the time of the call. But either way, your past will have prepared you for your future. Paul had trained under Gamaliel, an expert in the Jewish law and a high ranking member of the Sanhedrin. In Acts 5, you can read about an example of his wisdom when the council had wanted to kill Peter and the other Apostles: 

34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice.

 That was the caliber of Paul's teacher. Years later, when Paul was making his own defense, he told his audience that he studied under Gamaliel cf Acts 22:3, which would be a bit like someone today saying that they graduated from an Ivy League school. Even though Paul misused his training in his early years and would have sided with those who wanted to kill the Apostles, the point is that God arranged for Paul to have the best training in what we now call the Old Testament. 

Paul had additional preparation, at least three years, after he was saved on the road to Damascus. But once the basic training was in place and he had completed an apprenticeship of sorts, having met Peter and worked at the church in Antioch, God called him out for his life's mission. He was set apart. The church had been ministering to the Lord and fasting to hear God, and they did hear. So they laid hands on Paul, prayed over him, and sent him away.

This was very different than what happened to KatieLyn. No one in her hometown had been fasting, no one else was sure about hearing the Lord, and they were reluctant to send her off on her God-chosen path. They missed it.

But there was another difference which is even more important—
Paul valued the call that God put on his life. When he wrote his letter to the Romans, he said, "I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry, I magnify my ministry." 11:13. Despite an extensive list of things that could have discouraged him, beatings, shipwrecks, snakebite, stoning, robbers, imprisonment, perils by the heathen, perils among false brethren, (see his own list 2 Corinthians 11:21-33,) Paul still valued God's call and obeyed it. He knew that he was most valuable as a man when he was serving the Lord's call on his life.

Many people want to make up their own call, and then get God to sign on. Then they wonder why they have mediocre lives when they're "doing everything for God," except that they are actually doing only the things they want to do for Him, whether He wanted it or not, and little to none of the things that He told them to do. 

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalm 84:10 NASB

The psalmist declares that living just one day in the place where God is found is better than living a thousand days outside His will; and just making it as far as the threshold is better than dwelling in tents of wickedness. This is one of the truths that Paul knew that helped him keep going.

Another thing Paul trusted was that God would clearly show him the next step. Again in Romans, this time 1:17, he wrote,"the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith," that is, from one step of faith to the next. And the more practiced and skilled one gets in using his faith, the brighter the path.

And the path of the just is as a shining light, Going and brightening till the day is established.  Proverbs 4:18

The "just" are those who live by faith. They have accepted Christ by faith, been imputed with righteousness by Him, and are now walking by faith to complete their calling on earth. In return, God promises that their path will grow increasingly bright.

KatieLyn and her mom seemed to want the full noonday brightness before KatieLyn could "feel good" about setting out. But it does not work that way, and if you wait too long, you miss your opportunity and never reach the destination. Moreover, everyone has his or her own path once they have their life's calling. As long as KatieLyn wants to stay on her childhood path that runs concurrent with her mom's, as long as she refuses to set out on her own path, she will never be able to realize her own worth because her greatest value is on her own path. 

The Lesson
Paul valued his calling, he embraced it, and he worked at it. If you are going to develop into the success that the Lord has called you to, you have to give yourself to it. You have to separate from your training time and enter your own ministry. Without whole-hearted acceptance of the call on your life, you'll never be very good at it.