Again, boldly, but God knows, if this had been made known to me by man, I might, perhaps, have kept silent for the love of Christ.
Thus I give untiring thanks to God who kept me faithful in the day of my temptation, so that today I may confidently offer my soul as a living sacrifice for Christ my Lord; who am I, Lord? or, rather, what is my calling? that you appeared to me in so great a divine quality, so that today among the barbarians I might constantly exalt and magnify your name in whatever place I should be, and not only in good fortune, but even in affliction?
So that whatever befalls me, be it good or bad, I should accept it equally, and give thanks always to God who revealed to me that I might trust in him, implicitly and forever, and who will encourage me so that, ignorant, and in the last days, I may dare to undertake so devout and so wonderful a work; so that I might imitate one of those whom, once, long ago, the Lord already pre-ordained to be heralds of his Gospel to witness to all peoples to the ends of the earth.
So are we seeing, and so it is fulfilled; behold, we are witnesses because the Gospel has been preached as far as the places beyond which no man lives
People look at lives like Patrick’s and see the sacrifice. Return to the land where you were held a slave and be persecuted in order to spread the word of God. Yet we forget we are all called. No, we are not all called to a foreign land.
Sometimes we are called to humble ourselves and be a servant to our family or to a stranger who crosses our path.
A person with incredible talents, who could be rich and famous, is called to use those talents in a manner where no one may ever know them. Or a person with celebrity status called to tell the world of their love for Christ and then face the ridicule and mockery.
Too often we think about Christ answering our prayers and we fall into the trap of believing God molds to our will. He does answer our prayers, but we are suppose to conform to his will. We might want to be the wealthy doctor with a big practice who goes once a year on a mission trip. God may have called us to be a part time doctor, a mother homeschooling her children and working at the free clinic on weekends.
When we heed God’s call, there will be voices trying to either tear us down or flatter us into a different path. But we need to ignore those voices and listen intently for God’s plan for our life.
Patrick believed he gave his life as a living sacrifice when he obeyed God and returned to Ireland.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Fourth Day Adventures 