Acts 18:6
“And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.”
Paul’s greatest weakness was that he continued to let his burden hinder his calling. His calling is found in Acts 9:15, “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: to go to the Gentile.” You will notice that God set Paul apart to reach the Gentile world. Yet, you find Paul commonly going to the Jews before he went to the Gentiles. It was not that he shouldn’t try to reach a Jew if he came across their path, but his efforts were supposed to be focused on reaching the Gentile world. His burden for the Jews was so great that it actually caused him to foolishly take a Jewish vow which cost him his freedom and the ability to reach the Gentiles as he should.
Paul’s biggest problem was that he had a hard time recognizing his call was more important than his burden. Though there was nothing wrong with his burden, God called him to reach the Gentiles. He wasted much time that could have been spent on reaching the Gentiles. If Paul would have followed his call, he would not have been taken captive in Jerusalem. By following his burden, Paul found himself frustrated and waffling between his burden and his call. If he would have followed his calling, he would not have wasted valuable time.
You must always be careful about allowing your burden to overtake your calling. It’s not always easy to follow your call when you have a burden for other things. For instance, it is not hard for me to have a burden for the political world, but I know that God has not called me to be a politician. It would not be hard for me to have a burden for other countries, but I know that God has not called me to these other countries. God called me to be an evangelist to help the United States. If I’m not careful, I can easily let my burden for the lost in other nations pull me from my calling.
Burden’s come and go, but a calling never changes. Romans 11:29 says, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” You must always let your call be what directs you in your life. A burden can waste valuable time that could be spent on what God has called you to do.
Furthermore, a burden can pull you away from your calling if you are not careful. Many men who were called to pastor in a certain place have gone to the foreign field only to return and resign their church to be a missionary to that place. It wasn’t that being a missionary was bad, but God called them to pastor their church. Men who followed a burden found out that the burden left them when they got to the foreign field and faced hardships. When their burden left, it is always amazing how they then leave. You must always realize that you don’t follow a burdened heart; instead, you follow what God has called you to do.
Friend, don’t waste valuable time on following a burden. Though there may be nothing wrong with your burden, your call is what you are to follow. Find out what God has called you to do and do it. When a burden comes, pray for what God has burdened your heart about, but stay in your calling. It could be that God burdened your heart so you can help someone else reach that field. There is so little time to reach the lost for Christ. Don’t waste the time following your burden; instead, invest your time into your calling and let God use you in it to reach those whom He intends for you to reach.