Frequently I am asked if I plan to continue in evangelism, if I want to pastor, or if I miss what I did in the past. They are good questions that all have the same answer. I love what God has given me to do and plan to do it as long as God desires. As I have reflected on the work God has called us to do these are my thoughts…

• I am doing what I am doing because I want to get the gospel to as many people as possible. I love the work of the gospel.
• I am doing what I am doing because I want to give my time and energy to getting God’s Word into hearts and homes. 
• I am doing what I am doing because I want to encourage as many pastors and churches as I can.

But, most of all…

• I am doing what I am doing because I believe it to be what God has given me to do. 

Motive matters. In the end the only thing that counts is what God wants. We do not choose for ourselves – He chooses for us, and we are called to find His choice and agree with Him.

In my younger years I thought that perhaps the epitome of God’s work, the pinnacle of ministry, was to pastor a church. My dad has pastored the same church for nearly 30 years and I had the joy of working for a true pastor for nearly two decades. I love pastors. But when God says, “Covet earnestly the best gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:31), He does not say that is pastoring; He says it is declaring God’s truth (1 Corinthians 14:1). That work may be done by a pastor, by an evangelist, by a missionary, by any Christian worker!

The “best” calling is not someone else’s calling, it is the call of God upon your life. The highest work is the work God commissions you to do. Find that and you will find peace and fulfillment in your work, rest in the midst of your labor. Do what you do because God said to do it.

The Spirit of God gifts every man differently (1 Corinthians 12:11). He also gives to the church people who are uniquely gifted – but it is all for the same purpose:

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13).

Find your place. Do your part. Never be content with what you have given God but always be content with what God has given you.

If God ever tells me to do something else I want to remain willing and obedient to Him. Until then, by God’s grace, I want to keep doing what He has given me to do. I want to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ and continue on the last order He gave until I hear from headquarters or am called on to report.

The will of God truly does settle everything else in life.