Epic Bible College

Second Call

Posted on 28. Mar, 2010 by abdrumm in News

The Second Call is a result of something that changed our view of life. These are usually life altering circumstances, like a horrible accident, accumulating money and finding it doesn’t fulfill you, the loss of a loved one in death and tragedy, someone who hurt you in a deep way, or a broken relationship that shattered you heart into a million little pieces. Circumstances like these lunge us into the Second Call. “The second call is a summons to a deeper more mature commitment of faith where the naive, first fervor, and untested idealism of the morning and the first commitment have been seasoned with pain, rejection, failure, loneliness, and self-knowledge.” Brennan Manning. This second call changes your paradigm and will blow your preconceived ideas out of the water. What you thought to be once true are gone. Those ideals born out of a culture that lies to us, must die. A resurrection of truth is identified through God’s great design of suffering. This truth will set you free, even in the prison of your own mind – though you may not think you are in a prison. We learn what faith is, what love is, what hope is, who we are, who others are, and who God is.

In Brennan Manning’s book, “The Ragamuffin Gospel” this call asks us one question…”Do we accept the message that God is head over heels in love with us?” If we don’t understand this truth the lie that we must do more and that the cross is not sufficient for you will damage us. We can sit here and say, “this isn’t anything new…” Yes, we’ve heard it before but its worth repeating until we actually live it. For me its a battle I deal with it on a consistent basis. When a circumstance, like one of the before mentioned, I’m left wondering what control do I really have in my life. I’ve been tested and tried in this area like never before and I know ultimately no matter how hard things get God has me and I can trust His path for me no matter the difficulty involved. This doesn’t take away the pain, and it doesn’t cure an aching heart and the emotions involved. This second call invites us to look at life differently. During these times we may struggle with a crisis in our faith, hope and love.

First, in regards to God’s love, “The moment you think you understand is the moment you do not understand…My words are written in blood of my Son…Were you grieved by the divine command to Abraham that he slay his only begotten Isaac on Mount Moriah? Were you relieved when the angel intervened, Abraham’s hand was stayed, and the sacrifice was not carried out? Have you forgotten that on Good Friday no angel intervened? That sacrifice was carried out, and it was My heart that was broken.” B Manning. Recently, I heard God’s call to the broken hearted. I knew it was God, it resonated in my spirit and recently someone sent me an email saying they had a word for me. That word was that what I was going through was not an accident and he is preparing me for a ministry to the broken hearted and setting captives free. To have a broken heart is the worst kind of pain. It spreads through every part of your being physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The other ingredient is to have the capability to love with no regard and complete abandon. It involves a choice, great trust and risk. I say all this to say is that we are His image. His image is love. Our capability to love is at a much smaller scale but we are made to love and be loved. Love is freely given but costs everything you have. You literally lay down everything you have. You hope that person receives it and takes it in, and returns that abandoned love. Love, unfortunately, does not have rules, it doesn’t play fair and it doesn’t care what you deserve. You can have the purest of love, and have it completely crushed in the hands of the very one you would die for.

I know God’s love more for experiencing this first hand. I can see His love for me in a new light. The truth that He loved me even when I was an enemy hits home. He loved me completely even while I put Him on that cross. Even while I was breaking His heart with little or no regard. God wants us, not just be comfortable knowing His love, but He wants us to be fascinated and overwhelmed with it. If we aren’t marveling at His great love or at awe at the heights and depths He would go, then we need to take a minute or two to open our hearts for His revelation. “When I conclude that I can cope with the awful love of God , I have headed for the shallows to avoid the deeps. I could more easily contain Niagara Falls in a tea cup than I can comprehend the wild, uncontainable love of God.” B Manning. It’s on us to accept and say yes to a love that is beyond our capability of reason, beyond our comprehension, beyond our intellect, and beyond our imagination.

This second call of our life is a place of depth. Into the depths of real love, real faith, and real hope. The second call is accompanied by suffering and pain, but however serious our Good Friday is, there is an Easter Sunday to come. So, Jesus suffered, so shall we; so Jesus was risen, so will we. My season of suffering is just that, a season. With glory to come. That’s what we must hope for. Never lose hope. Losing hope is like losing your life. At times I feel I should lose hope, then I won’t expect anything or be let down. When I ponder it I realize that’s not the kind of life God has for me, or any of us. Life without hope is suicide. “If we believe in the exciting message of Jesus, if we hope in vindication, we must love and, even more, WE MUST RUN THE RISK OF BEING LOVED.” In real love born of God, it shows no restraint. Very little dignity is ever found in love because its humbling. Just ask Jesus on the cross. “Not only does He require that we accept His inexplicable, embarrassing kind of love; but once we accepted it, he expects us to behave the same way to others.”

God wants…”Someone daring enough to be different, humble enough to make mistakes, and wild enough to be burned in the fire of love…”

During the past few months I have been stretched beyond my human capabilities. My heart, my faith, my hope and my love has entered into new places. Its been tested, tried, encouraged, lifted up, broken, strengthened, weakened, empty, and left with nothing. I dare to hope and trust God amidst my loss because honestly, do I have a choice?  This is my life, I only have one, so the life I live; I live with unashamed love. This is not my own, I may kick and scream, cry and beg, but Lord do as you please.

I am a bow in your hands, Lord

Draw me, lest I rot

Do not overdraw me, Lord. I shall break.

Overdraw me, Lord, and who cares if I break?

Nikos Kazantzakis

God Bless

David