The Thorn in Thy Butt [Andrew McMillan]

When God calls us, it is usually not just to say hello. He calls us to do something great. Your calling might be hidden in children, in sick people, in the poor or in a place of lonely suffering. We might get mad and yell, “Why doesn’t somebody do something about this?” Or we pass to buck to someone else. “Here I am Lord, send Jack.” We blame the government, the church or the TV preacher for not doing their jobs. We might try to explain to God that we don’t have the right stuff, like Moses tried to do. But if we try to ignore our calling, we are quietly tortured for life.

I have seen friends shrugging off their high calling and then grow bitter and sharp. A thorn is a just rose that has never opened. Some people who never bloom into their destiny get touchy. In Spanish we call a cranky person, espinoso, which means thorny. What so easily angers us just may be a repressed invitation to greatness. What ticks us off could tip us off to our calling.

Imagine trying to talk to Jonah on the cruise ship about Nineveh; he might explode in your face. When a maid mentioned to Peter about his ministry with Jesus, he went ballistic. When Jesus asked Paul, “How is this kicking against the thorns working for you?” I bet Paul almost spit fire. That thorny subject in your life just may be your rosy destiny.

The good news is that Moses was eighty when he finally started to flourish. King Saul’s anger burned into holy courage. Tolstoy’s rage poured into novels. Wilberforce’s fury erupted relentless legislation to abolishing slavery. Peter, Paul and Jonah converted their anger into their vocations. So what’s the thorn in your butt? It could be your calling. It’s not too late.

OUR STORY:

In 1994, the McMillan family traveled to the kidnapping, murder, and drug capital of the western hemisphere to plant a church and a foundation. God thought Medellin, Colombia a good place to raise a family. And turns out He was right (as He usually is). It became a very large family: The church, Comunidad (Community), is now the largest church in Medellin with over 8,000 members, the Foundation, Viento Fresco, cares for over 150 high-risk children, and a non-profit coffee shop, New Hearts Cafe, serves cups of caffeine and the love of Jesus to thousands of college students.