Have You Been Called?

I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away. (Mk. 8:2-3 ESV)
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​In Mark chapter 8 we are given the story of a crowd of about four thousand people gathering around Jesus as he teaches them. At one point we are told that Jesus had compassion on the crowd because they had been with him for three days and have had nothing to eat. Yet, he was afraid to send them away becomes they might faint on the way home. The disciples, of course, know they don’t have enough food with them to feed them, so Jesus asks them how much bread they have, and they reply, “seven loves.” They also found a few small fish with which Jesus fed the entire crowd. What is interesting to note is that Jesus saw a need and was moved to meet that need, and so he did so. No one asked him. The crowd did not demand it. The disciples did not encourage it. Someone once said that a calling from God is the recognition of a need and a desire to meet that need. Considering that God is sovereign, this makes good biblical sense. Thus, the next time you are wondering if God is calling you to a particular ministry—Sunday school teacher, Bible study leader, pastoral ministry, or foreign missions, to name a few—if you recognize a need and have a desire to meet that need, you should seriously consider the possibility that God may be calling you to that ministry.