Right...Where You Are

By Mark Meeks (MA '05)

Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service.

The words of Os Guinness in The Call hit like a Pacquiao punch. Five years after my spiritual journey at Fuller and several unrequited bids at ministerial appointment, it looked like a good time to take account of where I was and to carefully, prayerfully consider points forward.

Was it really God who compelled me into theological study and to adopt its twins, sleep deprivation and tuition's debt? Maybe it was just me and God had nothing to do with it or, as Ebenezer Scrooge suggested, simply the result of an undigested bit of beef.

While it's easy to be convinced (by ourselves and others) that God wants us to go here or go there post-Fuller, as Guinness writes, "We are not primarily called to do something or go somewhere; we are called to Someone." What would happen if everyone who is equipped goes? The intersection of light and darkness in the marketplace demands faithful attention, too. Who will go for him and who will he send to the businesses, governmental institutions, and schools?

Maybe ... just maybe ... God had me exactly where he desired, in an area overflowing with darkness and despair. The key is in listening to him and not attempting to morph his will into my wishes. Attentiveness to that still small voice assents that obeying his call takes in staying where one is now as much as leaving Ur for destinations unknown.

Jesus held that we are light, a city on a hill that cannot be hid. This gives me pause and hope, that my attempts at being something I cannot be on my own are presumptuous and futile. Light doesn't try to become light. It is light. What's more, the image of a bulb scurrying down the street to insert itself into a different post is laughable. The owner determines placement and radiance.

Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven ... right where he has you. 

Mark Meeks is a senior manager with the State of California, Department of Water Resources. He has an undergraduate degree in civil engineering, Masters in Public Administration and MAT from Fuller.