April 26

“And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us . . . let us give ourselves to our ministry.” Romans 12:6-7

The calling of God is a distinctive calling. Moreover, its object is always precise, never merely haphazard or undefined. By this I mean that when God commits to you or to me a ministry he does so, not merely to occupy us in his service, but always to accomplish through each of us something definite toward the attaining of his goal. It is of course true that there is a general commission to his Church to “make disciples of all the nations”: but to any one of us, God’s charge represents, and must always represent, a personal trust.

It follows from this that since God does not call each of his servants to precisely identical tasks, neither does he use precisely identical means for their preparation. As the Lord of all operations, God retains the right to use particular forms of discipline or training and often, too, the added test of suffering, as means to his end. God understands clearly what he is doing with you.