Counted Calls

 “Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” II Thessalonians 1:11-12 NKJV

When Apostle Paul said to the Philippians “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Philippians 3:10)”, he makes ‘fellowship of His sufferings’ appears like medals. Now to the Thessalonians, he is praying for them to have grace to pass the call and be worthy of the same ‘fellowship of His sufferings’. Obviously, not everyone who is called is eventually counted worthy. Unfortunately, many believers would do everything including compromise to escape being counted. Whereas, persecutions at the centre of God’s calling are necessary working tools for craving and shaping the glory of God out of messed up pilgrims in the vineyard of the Lord. And when the glory of God is consistently focussed, rather than the gratification of the flesh, it becomes easy for believers to accommodate the activities of oppressors as helpful and not hurtful. Amazingly, while our enemies are waiting on counted commotion and confusion, our God is always waiting on worthiness for the medals among counted calls.


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