There is a difference between the call and commissioning. In between the two is the gestation or preparation time. Saul’s encounter with Christ on the way to Damascus is recorded in Acts 9. It was also at that time that he knew that the call of God was on his life. However, it was not until Acts 13 that he was sent forth to fully discharge his call. Hardly will God reveal to you your life purpose and expect that you start immediately. Those who thought and acted that way had themselves to blame. Someone may be genuinely called to do it and end up being injured if the timing is wrong.

Hardly will God reveal to you your life purpose and expect that you start immediately…It is one thing to get our purpose or bearing right, it is something different to know the timing of the Lord.

Moses was an example of a man who understood the call of God but failed to allow for gestation. He was forty years old when He became conscious of God’s assignment for his life. He swung into action immediately, killing an Egyptian. He went ahead of God and ended up spending forty years of his life in the wilderness. Joseph had a dream in his teen years. It took another 13 years for that dream to come into reality. David was another example. He was anointed to be next in line to the throne when he was a teenager. He also had to wait for some 13 years to mount the throne. From our text, it is clear that a period elapsed from when God called Barnabas and Saul and when they were eventually launched out. It is one thing to get our purpose or bearing right, it is something different to know the timing of the Lord. Let us keep in mind that just as we need to minister to Him to get the mandate, the same thing is required to get the method and timing.