Called To Be

I had a package that was FedExed overnight to me and was supposed to be delivered on August 23rd. It is now three weeks later, and I have received nothing. It is a very frustrating situation. Obviously, someone isn’t fulfilling their part of the social contract to do their job so that society does not collapse. The problem is, I can’t talk to that person. I can’t tell them, “You’re really bumming me out.” All I can do is wait and bother someone else in a call center who probably listens to people like me complain all day long.

Waiting is the absolute worst! It’s especially bad when there is nothing you can do to help things move faster. In the church, one of the hardest tasks we’ve been called to do is wait for Christ’s return. Jesus told us that He would return, but unfortunately no one will know the day or the hour (Matt 24:36). While we don’t know when he will return, it is clear what we are supposed to do while we wait.

Titus 2:12-14 says,
…say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

We are called to live upright and godly lives. Admittedly, this is much easier to say than it is to pull off. Maybe that’s why we’ve been given so much time to practice. If you interact with people in any way, it is only a matter of time before you run into someone who tests your patience. And this is the time when you need to take a step back, take a deep breath and remember who you are called to be. 

While my lost package is frustrating and inconvenient, flying off the handle at a stranger won’t solve my problem. I need to be eager to do what is good and be nice to a stranger on the phone. It isn’t always easy, and we will have plenty of times when our eagerness needs to be forced and intentional.

We just need to choose to do what we know is right.