Chapel Service

Sonoma Raceway

June 22, 2019

“Life Tools – A Contemplative Calling Exercise”

Bob Butcher

Kathy and I have been bringing you a series of “Life Tools” in our Chapel/Church messages at each NASCAR K&N Pro Series events this year and this one can be added to the series.  The series are free to be passed on to others and meant to be used privately or in a group discussion as you see fit, but as always, free of charge and not meant to cost you financially unless you determine to seek a Christian Counselor in your home town because it is the logical step to your healing and personal growth.  With  that made completely plain let me continue to today’s Self-Assessment tool.

 

 “Contemplative Calling Exercise”

 

When God places a person on this earth He places within them precise gifting and talents, so He can use them for His glory, IF they choose.  We in the church refer to this as a “Calling.”  Not everyone chooses to enter into this area of vocation or work.  But, in reality, even if you are a gifted chassis person, engine builder or whatever, male or female, that still can be your “calling” if you are out to glorify Him.  The bottom line purpose for our life is to glorify Him and to fellowship with Him for eternity.  He knows our frailty and the stress of life in our world today and the cost to us to hang in there. So, …

 

In the quietness, allow yourself to remember the time when you first began to sense God’s call on your life.  Maybe it was a moment when you heard God speak deep into your heart with great clarity, or perhaps your sense of calling grew in strength and conviction over time.  Maybe it was a person that God used to speak into your life.  Whatever the case, remember where you were, and what it sounded like, what it felt like, what you said to God, how you resisted maybe, and how you said yes.

 

After you take time to recall that initial experience, ask, what is God saying to me these days about my calling? 

 

As I settle into myself more fully, what am I learning about my calling?  Is there any place where I am resisting who I am or have lost touch with who I am?

 

Where am I still wrestling with God and needing assurance of His presence with me?  Any specific area come to mind?

 

Am I willing to say “YES” again?

 

This is a great time to write and keep a flowing journal of what you hear from Him, what your impressions are, and the nudges you experience along with what you feel and say back to Him.  And, writing it down gives you an anchor in a future storm that makes you question, wonder, or the directions you have taken. That can be your line of defense.

 

Now, take another few minutes to just rest in God’s presence and experience your longing for God’s direction relative to your calling.  Notice whether you  are indifferent to anything but the will of God, or whether you are attracted to or attached to a particular outcome.

 

Here is a prayer you might like to use:

Oh God, by whom I am guided in judgment,

and who rises up as a light in the darkness:

Grant me, in all my doubt and uncertainties,

The grace to ask what would You have me do;

That Your spirit of wisdom may save me from all false choices,

And in my straight path I may not stumble;

Through Jesus our Lord.

Amen

 

Relax, enjoy your time alone with your Creator and also learn to be okay and calm over times when you hear or feel nothing.  Our world and western civilization today have great difficulty with time like that.  Plus, the attention span of the day is a stumbling block of any time silence or quiet prevails without the next thing happening.

 

Kathy and I promise time spent like this will change your life, but the enemy of our souls will NOT like it and do all he can to prevent you from following through with any of these Life Tools we have presented to you this year,

 

All of these Life Tools, if you missed any, are on our website in the Chapel Service listing and available.  Or you can simply ask Kathy or me and we will mail you one or email you one.

 

This was adapted from:

#inHarmonieJourney, Strengthing the Soul of your Leadership:

Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry,

Ruth H. Barton, InterVarsity Press 2012

 

Samuel Matthias, Youth With A Mission Salem, Oregon

And myself, from my own Life Tools & Pastoral Care 2019