Antioch
There is wisdom in knowing that you are called, and maturity in refusing to run ahead of the One who called you.
“Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Acts 13:2
Direction is often born in devotion.
Barnabas and Saul were already called, but the instruction concerning their sending came in their place of consecration. They were at Antioch, faithfully ministering to the Lord, when the Holy Spirit spoke. And even after He spoke, the church fasted and prayed before laying hands on them and sending them out.
There is something to learn here:
Do not confuse knowing what God has called you to with knowing when He has sent you. A calling gives you direction, but His instruction determines when you move.
Until then, remain faithful at Antioch. Learn. Serve. Worship. Grow.
And perhaps your Antioch is that job you have already outgrown in your heart, but where there is still something God is teaching your hands.
Perhaps it is that season of obscurity, where nobody sees what you carry yet.
It may be a waiting season where nothing appears to be moving. It may be that ministry where you are serving quietly, even while sensing there is more in you. Or it may simply be the place where God has you now, while what He has shown you still seems far away.
I know there is a strange discipline in carrying something whose time has not yet come.
To know there is more, yet remain teachable.
To carry a vision, yet remain faithful.
To sense the nations, yet still labour at Antioch.
Do not despise Antioch because it does not look like the place God showed you.
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Barnabas and Saul remind us that a great calling does not make your present assignment insignificant. The place where you are serving now may not be where you will serve forever, but that does not mean it has nothing to offer you.
Sometimes, the very place you are eager to leave is where your hands are being trained for what you have been shown.
So do not rush to leave Antioch simply because you have seen what lies beyond it. Remain faithful, remain teachable, and continue to seek the Lord’s direction.
When the time came, Barnabas and Saul did not have to manufacture their departure. The Spirit who had called them also gave the instruction for their sending, and the church responded.
There is a difference between being aware of what lies ahead and being ready to move towards it.
Do not despise a season that does not look like the promise. Some places are not your destination, but they may be necessary to your formation.
Final Blessing
Father, thank you for teaching us to remain faithful at Antioch. Grant us the grace to learn, serve, worship and grow where you have placed us, without becoming impatient with your timing. And when the appointed time comes, may we recognise your voice and have the courage to go where your Spirit sends us. In Jesus name.
Shared in Stewardship and Humility
~Izzy
