Answering the Call of God at Any Age

Eric Hamilton

Throughout the Bible there are many occurrences of God calling someone to perform a particular work for him. We can learn many things about what God desires in the people he chooses. As he told Samuel when selecting the next king to proceed after Saul, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Many lessons can be drawn out of the kinds of people God chooses: He often does not choose the strongest, the most talented, the best connected, etc. But also, God does not limit himself to a certain kind of person at a particular time of life. Often, people will limit themselves in their service to God for reasons like, “I am too young,” or, “I am too old,” but God does not consider such things when he calls people into his service. Let us consider the ages of some of those he called.

God told the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (1:5) Jeremiah then objects to this calling saying he is only a youth. To this God says, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.” (1:7) God was not concerned about the age of Jeremiah and called him very early into his ministry.

Another example of being called at an early age is the prophet Samuel, who as a youth was working for the high priest Eli. Late at night, Samuel heard a voice calling to him, but he thought it was Eli. Eventually Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” (1 Samuel 3:8-9) And it was after this that God revealed to young Samuel what he would do to the house of Eli.

One of the challenges the young have when trying to follow God’s call is that they are not always taken seriously by those who are older. The Apostle Paul told the Evangelist Timothy, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12) As a young man (and Timothy may well be in his 30s or 40s when this letter was written) Timothy would be held to a higher standard by those who want to dismiss him for his age. The advice of Paul is for Timothy to live in such a way that his character cannot be questioned despite his age.

But God does not only call the young. Consider a few examples.

Abraham was seventy-five years old when he was called by God, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1) Seventy-five certainly seems like a late start to begin a journey away from your country, family, and parents. Parents these days get antsy when their kids fail to leave in their twenties. Abraham wasn’t called to leave until he was seventy-five.

Another well-known example was Moses who was eighty years old when he was called by God through the burning bush saying, “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10) Moses eventually did lead the people out of Egypt and for the next forty years (ages 80-120) Moses led and judged the people of Israel as they wandered through the wilderness. When most of us think that age eighty is the time to stop working (if not decades earlier), it is the age in which God called Moses to start doing his work.

From these examples, and from many more that could be referenced, we can see that God is not a respecter of persons when it comes to age. He calls both the young and the aged to his service. There is no required age, nor a limit by which God limits those to carry out his work.

There is also no retirement as a Christian while still on this earth. The Hebrews author records: “He appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” (4:7-10)

Our rest is still yet to come. But while it is “Today” let us work for the Lord, no matter our age.