The Need is Not the Call

Lately I keep hearing a phrase “the need is the call” but I disagree.

I think that believing that the need is the call is what gets us trapped in positions that suck the life out of us and rob us of the joy of serving Christ.

The call should birth joy, excitement, passion, and zeal. Not obligation, exhaustion, and frustration. So many times we say yes to a need when we’re really not called to meet that need.

For example… the church nursery needs help, they are desperate, and they’ll put anyone in there. You break out in hives every time you’re around a crying baby. But you feel bad, they need help. So you say yes.

Should we serve? Absolutely. Should we be sensitive to the needs around us? Of course. The danger is in thinking that we are the answer to every need. We aren’t. I believe that we are the answer to one, maybe two, very specific needs. And when we figure out what the need is that God has called us to answer… (cue angels singing the hallelujah course here).

Believing that “the need is the call” says that we don’t trust that God is big enough to bring the right person at the right time to meet that need.

Believing that the call is the call aligns us to fulfill God’s purposes in ways that are so much bigger than we are.

We say yes to the need out of guilt. We say yes to the call out of love.

The need is great, but the call is sovereign. Pray about the need, fulfill the call. Chase God, pursue the Holy Spirits leading. And watch with wonder what God will do.