“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’” – Acts 16:9
As Christians, we can have several different reactions to this story of Paul’s call to take the Gospel into Europe. Commonly we celebrate it and think, “That’s awesome!” It’s also common to think, “I wish God would speak to me like that.” Indeed, some Christians will use their lack of a specific “Macedonian Call” as an excuse to remain less than fully engaged in following Jesus. They reason that, “If God wants me to do something big, He’ll tell me.”
There’s something very important every Christian must understand about this story, particularly if we’ve ever given in to the temptation to sit back and relax because we haven’t received a personal calling from God to serve in some capacity. Here it is: Paul was already on mission doing the work of God when he was called to Macedonia!
Paul was already doing the thing EVERY Christian has been called, commanded, and invited to do: make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching. That’s the task of every Christian, including you. Jesus gave you this work Himself (see Matthew 28:18-20). Because Paul was obedient to that task, He received a later call to go into mission work. Because Paul was obedient to that next task, He received this later call to go to Europe.
If you’re waiting for a personal invitation from God to serve Him, you’re wrong. He’s already told you what to do. Go make disciples. Once you’re doing that, you may receive further clarification about how and where. God is quite unlikely to give you further instructions until you’ve proven yourself faithful with the ones He’s already given!