"Availability"

“Availability”

 

One summer while I was in college I applied at the post office in my home town for work during the Christmas vacation. I was told they’d call if they needed help (you know, the old don’t-call-us-we’ll-call-you routine). So I pretty much wrote it off until the phone rang early one morning during the break and a voice said, “This is the Massapequa Park Post Office. Are you available?” Twenty minutes later I reported for work. What I earned that week covered my travel home and back. Again God came through and met a need.

I’d forgotten about this experience until many years later when I read these words from King David: “…Who is willing to consecrate (himself/herself) today to the Lord?” (1 Chronicles 29:5). Basically the Lord through His servant was asking the same question the post office did: “Are you available?” But something else comes to mind. The gentlemen who phoned wasn’t interested in my coming the next week—he wanted to know if I was ready to work that day (almost that minute). In the same way, God asked who was willing that day to serve Him. He wasn’t concerned about the next year, next week, or even the next day—He wanted those willing to serve immediately when summoned.

Many of us have the idea that we can respond to the Lord when we feel like it or after we get our own things taken care of. To think this way is to misunderstand a key aspect of ministry. Every day (or opportunity) we waste reduces the total time we have to get God’s work done. Maybe this is what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote, “Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days.” (Ephesians 5:16, NLT). Haggai’s message to Israel 2500 years ago was to stop beautifying their own houses and get the Lord’s house built. Could it be that God is using His prophet of old to make the same point to us today?

God is interested in our immediate availability when He calls. Will we answer with Isaiah, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8). Or will we tell Him (paraphrasing the words of the Roman Governor Felix), “When I find it convenient, I will go for you.”? (Acts 24:25).

So am I available now? Are you?

 

Grace and blessings!

Jim McMillan