HERE I AM, LORD, SEND ME
So, you’ve answered the call to be a nurse! Somewhere, in the recesses of your heart you have heard the voice of one saying “Come! Walk this way. It’s right, for you.” Maybe it came during a moment of silence while in prayer. Maybe it came in a special moment during a conversation with another. Maybe it came as you watched a Loved One brave an illness. Maybe it came when you saw that Loved One succumb to the illness. Maybe the moment you realized you wanted to be a nurse happened when you were driving your car down the road and you saw a picture advertisement of a nurse. Or, maybe you heard the call when you realized it was the one necessary step to get to the goal of a specific occupation. Did you hear the call when your Loved One, who is a nurse, challenged you to consider the occupation? Or, maybe someone said to you, “wow… you are really smart! And, you knew just what to do in that moment of urgency. You should be a nurse!” Or, are you becoming a nurse at the request of your relative who is, themselves, a practicing nurse?
What other occupation is as high a calling? Congratulations! You have listened to your heart and are stepping out into the unknown of what it means to be a nurse! But, you are ready! With a love in your heart for people to be well, and determination in your soul to take whatever steps you need to help them! You have committed yourself to a career of laying down your own desires to help others. And, this is good! You have heard well, and chosen well! Upon completion of your schooling, you will launch into the most exhilarating, rewarding, unpredictable, challenging, and respectable occupation anyone could hold. With license in hand, you have crossed the precipice into the most exciting, rewarding and service-oriented occupations known in the medical field!
Yet, there is another high calling. The highest calling anyone on earth could decide to answer. A heavenly calling, actually! In the book of Ephesians, Paul talks about this high calling in chapter one. Ephesians 1:15-16 read, “Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called – his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.” Oh, my goodness! Are you kidding me? We have the privilege of being The Called of God Almighty – Creator of Heaven and Earth - and He calls US his glorious inheritance! What a love He has for us!!!
God is calling you, today. God is inviting you to come away from a life of worry, doubt, anger, fear, or whatever troubles you to distract from what He wants to do for you and in you. God is saying “come away” and “come to me”. God is calling you to a life of peace, rest, healing, hope and love. He longs to hear you say “yes, I will come, Lord. I long to have peace, rest, healing, hope and, I want to experience YOUR love.” And, as we step into these things, something wonderful begins to happen. Others begin to take notice of the difference in how we live. The overflow of our experience with Christ makes others want to answer the call, too!
Just as your calling as a nurse puts you in a position of serving as a medical professional, your calling in Christ Jesus puts you in a position of serving as His beloved. Answer the call! And, be blessed!
