“She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son.”
THE LIFE OF MARK, Part III.
and so does Mark
From Antioch, Paul, Barnabas, and Mark went on a missionary expedition to Asia Minor (Turkey today). Things went along quite well, but John Mark deserted the team before finishing the mission trip.
“Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem” (Acts 13:13).
John Mark went home. Some would say that he was a mama’s boy– he found the work of God difficult and quit when the ministry developed difficulties.
The Holy Spirit called Barnabas and Paul (Acts 13:2). He said nothing about Mark. Who invited Mark? His cousin Barnabas. Many people go into ministry because some people ask them to do it. “My mother always wanted me in ministry,” they say. Yet these people often do not last in Christian work because they did not seek the will of God. However, as we will see, Mark later became effective in ministry.
PRINCIPLE:
God must lead us into ministry in his timing, not people.
APPLICATION:
If God does not lead you into ministry, you will become cynical, critical, pessimistic, and bitter. By the same token, if God does lead you into ministry, you will have a great love for people, including your detractors. And you will understand that your critics keep you from pride.
If we allow people to pressure us to go into the ministry, we make a big mistake. We must make sure that God leads us, not people.
