Trisha Huffman | December 6, 2015
Luke 3:4
As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
The text for my devotional is not about Jesus, per se, but about John the Baptist, who was telling people that Jesus was coming. As I read this passage, it occurred to me that, as much as we focus on Jesus at Christmas time, a character that is probably more like us is John. Like him, we are not the Messiah but rather people charged with pointing people toward the Messiah. Like him, we inhabit a wilderness torn by strife and war. Like him, we serve a starving, desperate people who are longing for an answer the likes of which only Christ can supply.
Whether I wanted it or not, I have always felt the need to answer this call. Even as a young child in eastern Kentucky, I had a sense that I was somehow called to tell people about Jesus. I thought for a long time that could only mean that I was to be a preacher, as they seemed the ones who actually and formally filled this role. I even gave preaching a try a time or two in my college years, but honestly, it never really fit me very well. I had some good words, but I never had that other intangible something that true preachers have.
But I always loved music and I always loved people. Most of all, I always loved bringing the two, music and people, together. Somewhere along the way, I realized that this was how God wanted me to answer my calling. So I have spent the better part of my 59 years singing, teaching singing, and leading singing. Every so often while making music (and not always in church), I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have helped some little part of the world encounter the Messiah.
That’s how I answer the call. How about you? Like it or not, preacher, teacher, friend, parent, singer, dancer, or whatever, you have a calling, and I pray that you have figured it out and are following it to the best of your ability. Our starving world needs us.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to be wise enough to know what it is you call each of us to do and brave enough to go do it. Amen.
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