What is my calling?
Terry Walling says, “Today, more than ever, believers like yourself are searching for ways to recognize the hand of God at work in their lives. To see again that the God of the universe is personally involved in our lives, brings hope and a greater desire to persevere through the turbulent days in which they live.”
This quote echos deep into my soul and is something I ponder daily. To see God at work and personally involved is not as easy as it may seem. The day-to-day routine of our lives can remove our ability to see God’s big story and how he is calling us into it. Yes, God has a place for you and me in the Big God Story of the Bible that he is still writing today. I have to prioritize silence, solitude, God’s Word, and reflection to give myself space to recognize God’s involvement in my life and see his direction for today and tomorrow.
Peter in 2 Peter 1:10 says it this way, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” Consider that last phrase that I put in bold, “You will never fall.” That represents living life free of anxiety, fear, and doubt. It is a life lived in the confidence of who God is, his calling for us, and in his power through the Spirit to enable us to live out our calling. We will never fall. Our part is to be diligent in making our calling sure.
God asks us to be diligent in knowing our calling and prioritizing it in our day-to-day lives. When you woke this morning, did you consider that God has a plan for you today that contributes to the goal of building and expanding his Kingdom one heart at a time?
Yes, he has a calling for you today! How do I know what it is and engage it if that is true? First, it is by knowing what I will call our general calling is. The general calling is clearly stated and laid out in the Word of God. It is the instructions that God asks us to follow in scripture. It is a lifestyle that leads us to abundant living and connects us to God’s will.
The Word of God is a letter that the Holy Spirit wrote to lead us to know God, connect to God, understand God’s desires for our lives and how he interacts with us. It is a profitable and personal letter to our lives and knowing God’s will. I will be as bold to say that it will be impossible to know God’s specific calling for our lives until we prioritize the Word of God and living according to its guidance. When we live a life that discovers Jesus, experiences Jesus, and follows Jesus, when we reflect on our life, we will begin to see the hand of God in our lives.
One tool that helps us connect to God’s general will/calling is the B.L.E.S.S. tool. In scripture, we learn that God calls us to:
Begin with praying for others. James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Listen to other people’s stories. James 1:19 says, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”
Eat a meal with other people. Hebrews 13:16 says, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
Serve other people the way Jesus served us. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:”
Share your story of how Jesus has changed your life with others. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”
When we begin to engage God’s Word and learn how he is asking us to live, he gives us an opportunity to obey. When we obey God, he will work in our lives, and we will begin to discover and experience his personal involvement. This personal involvement will lead us to access through the Holy Spirit to his specific calling in our lives.
John 15:15 says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
God does have a specific plan for you. A plan that will lead you to experience satisfaction and fulfillment. Jeremiah 29:11 says it this way, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Sometimes we get so caught up in knowing the specifics of his plan:
What college do I attend?
Who is my life spouse?
What is my career path?
Where do I live?
But he has already laid out for us how to live. Here, we begin to discover his specific calling for our lives; in obeying the general instruction, he has laid out for me in the Word of God. When I trust in his Word, I will experience him personally, and his Holy Spirit will lead me in a personal way into the specific plan for my life.
Here is a verse to use as a prayer guide when you are talking to God about what he would have you do. 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 says, “To this end we always PRAY for you, that our God may MAKE you WORTHY of his calling and may FULFILL every resolve for good and every work of faith BY HIS POWER, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you would like to join a process to investigate God’s specific calling for your life by reflecting on your life and gaining perspective of how God has been at work in the past, please click here and fill out this form.