Have you ever rung someone and it’s gone straight to voicemail? It’s a bit rubbish isn’t it! It’s one thing to get an overly jolly message saying, ‘Sorry I can’t get to the phone right now, but leave me a message and I’ll call you back’. It’s even more bleak when you get a generic, ‘Welcome to the voicemail service. The person you have called is not available…’
I had an experience recently when I was talking to someone whilst I was looking in a different direction. They started to respond but faded out and stopped talking mid sentence. When I looked up they were on their phone totally engrossed in something. I chuckled a bit and just asked another question. Thinking about it now, they may as well have had a big pointy arrow above their head saying, ‘The person you’re talking to is not available’.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying I’m perfect in this and never get distracted mid sentence by something. Much to my husband’s frustration I’m terrible at it. But it got me thinking about how available we are to those around us. I’m also not suggesting we should be at other people’s beck and call constantly. Moderation and maturity is needed when setting boundaries and keeping them.
However, in Jeremiah it says that if we call on God’s name, he will answer – not just answer, but tell us great and unsearchable things.
Call to Me and I will answer you, I’ll tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish. Jeremiah 33:3 AMP
If our aim as disciples is to be more like God, then maybe we need to be more available to his call and nudges when they happen. Otherwise we risk being so engrossed in our daily lives that we don’t look up from the thing we are doing to see the opportunities before us!
Ben Cantalon wrote a song called ‘Love Came Down’ which starts by saying, “When I call on your name you answer”. The song goes on to speak of the love that is poured out on us simply because we call out to God.
Rachel is an Inspire Missioner in Chesterfield, England. She coordinates prayer across the Movement and co-directs the Core Team in Great Britain with her husband Matt.
