For all of us doubters out there.

“He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Although I’ve read through the Bible cover to cover more than once, there are many truths within it that I seem to have apparently “missed”. I say this because there are countless times when I come across a verse or passage and think, “Have I ever read this before? This seems new to me.” Allow me to introduce you to one such occasion for me:1 Thessalonians 5:24.

I was privileged to attend a women’s conference a few weeks ago, and upon arrival, every woman was given a card, and hand-written inside each card was the above verse. I quickly grabbed my Bible and looked up the reference, certain that what was written in my card must have been a paraphrase, because I couldn’t for the life of me ever remember reading it before. But there it was, plain as day, that short but ever so sweet verse tucked in near the very end of 1 Thessalonians. What a powerful and blessed promise!

I can remember sitting in chapel at the Bible college I attended nearly 11 years ago now being certain of God’s call on my life to go into full-time Christian ministry. I had not a faint clue as to what that meant or would look like at the time, but it was beyond clear that God had called me to minister to hurting, broken, and lost people in this world. I proceeded for the next few years to stumble around blindly from ministry focus to ministry focus, completely unsure of where my niche was. After what seemed to be several failed attempts (from my perspective) at vocational ministry resulting in discouragement and frustration, I remember doubting whether or not I had heard God clearly in the first place.

“Lord, did you really mean me when you said, ‘Go into all the world’?”

“Jesus, is it possible that I misunderstood you and made all of this up in my mind?”

Over the past several years, the Lord has not only aligned my gifts and my passions with His will for my life, but He has affirmed again and again that He indeed called me to serve Him with my life in ministry. Being brought back to this verse in Scripture just weeks ago (a verse, mind you, that I was completely unaware existed in God’s inspired Word) has brought a fresh wave of encouragement to my soul. There will continue to be times that I will be tempted to doubt God’s call on my life, a call to minister to women and to teach women God’s Word, but every time the enemy shoots the fiery arrows of doubt my way, I will raise my sword of the Spirit (the Word of God), and remind him that “He who called me is faithful, and HE will do the work through me!”

Can you relate? Have you found yourself doubting God’s call on your life or perhaps His ability to accomplish that work through you? Be reminded today that whatever He called you to He can and will equip you for, and He will surely do it! For all of us doubters out there, God is faithful, and He keeps ALL of His promises.