WHAT THEY WERE DOING WHEN HE CALLED

David was tending sheep when God brought him out of the pen to accomplish His purposes. And I just think that's awesome. Awesome in all of its un-awesome-ness.

I mean, tending sheep? Seems pretty ordinary. Highly unspectacular. Boring, to be blunt.

Over the summer I read Psalm 78 and verses 70-72 jumped off the pages at me:

"He chose David His servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
from tending sheep He brought him
to be the shepherd of His people Jacob,
of Israel His inheritance.
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them."

He went from living as a simple shepherd to reigning as King David. And that lowly beginning herding sheep around a pen equipped him to shepherd the people of God. His hands were skillful because of his background.

Then last night I was reading back through Moses' life. And one day after living in exile, he was out in a field doing nothing more significant than taking care of his father-in-law's flock of sheep.

Riveting, I know.

But what happened next really was riveting! A bush fully engulfed in flames, yet not burning up? And the voice of God coming out of it? With an invitation to be used by God to free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, and to lead them to safety as a shepherd leads his flock?

Wow!

And in both cases, they were just ordinary men tending sheep.

I don't know about you, but that means something to me today. It means that as we go through this day simply tending to the tasks God has given us to accomplish right now, Almighty God can show up even in the mundane and invite us to get in on what He's up to. AND these seemingly unspectacular tasks of today could very well be equipping us for the call--fashioning our hands into skillful tools capable of doing the will of God!

So as you nurse your newborn baby or teach a room full of students or package boxes to ship out or cook dinner or work the late shift, or even tend to the flock living under your own roof, you are doing the work--and perhaps even the groundwork--of God. And consider that He may one day appear in these seemingly unspectacular places and say, "I've been readying you all along. Join me. All of this has been to prepare you, that you may join Me. You've been faithful in these things. Now I'm trusting you with more."

Where will you be when He calls?