Are You Waiting To Be Called?

Back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man was seeking a job as a Morse Code operator. He noticed an ad for such a position in the newspaper and proceeded to the address that was listed. He arrived at a large and busy office, resonating with all the noisy clatter one would expect at such a place—and, of course, the distinctive sound of a telegraph in the background. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.The young man eagerly filled out his form and then sat down with the seven other applicants in the waiting area. A few minutes later, he abruptly stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, peering whimsically at one another, wondering what was going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. This latecomer must have been overzealous, entered the office in unnecessary haste, and would soon be marched out and sent away. Within a few minutes, the employer escorted the young man out of the office—but then said to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”

The other applicants began to grumble in protest, until finally one spoke up saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t understand! He was the last to come in and entered your office without permission—yet we who have been patiently waiting out here never even got a chance to
be interviewed. Yet he gets the job? How is that fair?!” The employer replied, “I’m not sure what you were patiently waiting for. For the last several minutes while you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code: ‘If you understand
this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you were paying attention to the summons. This young man was. The job is his.” Very often our lives are like that office, teeming with busyness, and surrounded by so much noise. Cell phones ring, music plays, newscasters drone on, and in the cacophony of the surrounding sounds, we tune out the still, small voice of God. Does He not speak through all of creation? Is His voice not heard in the Scriptures? Does He not call us through the life and work of Jesus Christ? Have not His words been
resounding all throughout our lives? Can you hear the Lord when He speaks to you? Are you listening—or are you deafened by the noise, and still “waiting to be called”?

In these last days, the harvest is great but the laborers are very few. Many are sitting in the waiting room, while an urgent call is coming from the inner chambers. Many are called: but only few respond to the call to be chosen of the Lord for this work. In the midst of the commotion, be still: and you will know the voice of your God. Isaiah was surrounded by so many sounds: angels crying, “Holy!” and the people all around, speaking with their unclean lips. Yet in the
midst of all that, this was his testimony: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then said I, ‘Here am I; send me’” (Isa 6:8).
Hear God’s voice, heed His call: the job can be your