Ministry Resources

Chapter 3: The Calling

Several hours later, the front door of the house squeaked as it opened.

Elijah entered after a long hard day at the local university where he now worked instead of inventing spyware for the military. This job was less exciting perhaps, but it allowed more time with his kids. Elijah stood just inside the doorway and yelled out his usual greeting: “Where’s my two rug rats? Your favorite dad in the whole world is here!”

The only response Elijah received was silence. Puzzled, Elijah looked down the hallway at the doors to the twins’ rooms. The lights were on, so they should be in their rooms.

Elijah called out again, “Eli! Ezri! Are you in there?” No response.

“Okay, kids, what’s going on?” Elijah walked down the hallway to their bedrooms and began to knock on each door, the left hand knocking on Eli’s door and the right hand knocking on Ezri’s door.

Elijah had a hunch something was wrong. With the dual knock on the doors, Elijah calmly said, “Okay, kids, if you’re in there, come out now.” As Elijah made his way back into the kitchen, the doors to Eli’s and Ezri’s bedrooms slowly creaked open.

“Hey Dad,” Eli said softly.

“Hello Father,” Ezri added.

“What’s going on, kids? Why the gloomy faces? What’s bothering you two?”

Ezri said quickly but quietly, “It’s all his fault,” pointing to Eli.

“Come on, Ezri, you pushed the buttons too!”

“Okay, okay, now what’s this all about?” Elijah asked.

“Well … I guess it is my fault,” admitted Eli. “I just wanted to see what was inside that old cabinet.”

“Cabinet!” exclaimed the dad. “Do you mean to tell me you got into the cabinet in the shed?”

“Yes, sir,” responded Eli sheepishly.

“After all the times I told you not to,” Elijah said sternly.

“Yes, sir,” Eli said again, looking down at the floor.

“I’m just as much to blame, I guess,” said Ezri softly. “I pushed the buttons too.”

“What buttons?” asked Elijah.

“You know,” said Eli, “The ‘T2U’ watch buttons.”

“Oh no, You didn’t!” responded Elijah.

“Yeah, and the scary thing was it zoomed in on our old shed and said, ‘You have been located!’”

“You know it was wrong to break into the cabinet and mess around with those gadgets,” said Elijah.

“I know. But, Dad, the thing looked so cool,” Eli said. “And then on top of that, it said, ‘Your mission has been assigned. You must act now!’”

“I see,” said Elijah in a calm voice. “Well, the punishment is already in progress. I guess I have some explaining to do.” Elijah paused for a moment. “You’d better sit down and let me think of where to start.” Eli and Ezri sat down at the kitchen table as Elijah thought for a moment.

“You see,” Elijah began slowly, “you kids know that, years ago, my parents were missionaries to Argentina. God had used them to take the gospel message to the remote villages of that Latin American nation. I loved my life in Argentina. Watching the work they did, I dreamed of becoming a missionary myself. God never did call me to the mission field like I had hoped. When I grew up, I became a scientist instead. But missionary work was still important to me. When I began inventing things, I wanted to create a device that would help missionaries to advance the gospel message throughout the world. In fact, I prayed to God that He would use me and my invention to proclaim His message.”

“Little did I know then that my invention would be discovered by the U.S. government and used by the special military forces to keep peace around the world. But now God appears to be answering my prayer and using my invention as I originally hoped He would.”

“What do you mean?” asked Eli. “I don’t understand.”

“Yea, what’s this all about?” echoed Ezri.

“Well,” Elijah said, “God never called me to the mission field, but it appears that He just called the two of you.”

“Say what!” responded Eli.

Elijah began to explain, “The letters on the T2U watch stand for ‘Talk 2 U (you).’ In other words, the Spirit of God talking to you. The prototype—the first watch I created—was like none of the other T2U units I later designed. The watch you found is a very special one. I prayed over it, anointed it with oil, and asked God to use it to show me how to reach the world for Him.

“One day the T2U began to beep and to glow and to display a phrase I’ll never forget: ’Your sons and your daughters.’ I didn’t fully realize until just now what those words meant. Hold on just a minute.”

Elijah walked into the living room as Ezri and Eli looked puzzled at one another. When their dad returned to the kitchen he was holding an open Bible. “You see, kids, those words, ‘Your sons and your daughters,’ came from the Word of God in Joel 2:28 and 29. Let me read the scripture verses to you:

‘And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.’

“You see, kids, God has sought you out. He has a mission for you to do. And He’s calling you today to accept that mission—a mission which He told me before you were born, that He would call my sons and daughters to do.”

“Excuse me?” Eli said standing up quickly from the kitchen chair.

“Come again?” echoed Ezri.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but trust me,” said Elijah. “God has something special in plan for you. Often I’ve prayed, ‘God, if you’re not going to send me to the mission field, send my kids!’ Now God has answered my prayers!”

With that, Eli and Ezri said at the same time, “Okay, now you have my attention.”

“Come outside to the old shed, kids, I have a lot more to explain.”

Let’s Talk

  1. Psalms 139 reminds us that each of us is “fearfully and wonderfully made.” It also tells us that God has great plans for you in life, and that He knew His plans for you before you were even born. Did you know that God has a plan just for you? God uses different events to speak to us and to get our attention. Who knows, God may be using this story to get your attention and to challenge you to think more about how He wants to use you in life.
  2. God is seeking you out to serve Him with all of your life. As a child of God, you can be mightily used by God. He wants you to show kindness and friendship with other kids at school. God wants your classmates to see Jesus through you. Are you willing to allow God to use you to tell others about Jesus?
  3. Who knows what all God wants you to do in life. Are you willing to find out? Let’s pray that He will begin to show you. And let’s pray that God will give you the right tools to help you be a friend to other kids who just need a good Christian friend. God will help you be brave enough to do the things He has called you to do.
Next Lesson