How to Find Your Calling from God
Have you ever wondered how to find your calling from God?
Actually, let's backtrack a little… What do I even mean by that? What do I mean by "calling"?
Here's how I define the term:
When you identify an occupation or a ministry (or even a good cause) in the sweet spot where your passions, gifts, and skills come together in a beautiful harmony that honors the Lord, gives you a sense of joyful satisfaction, and adds value to the lives of others—then you've likely discovered your calling.
Your occupation may be your calling, but then again, it may not. (The apostle Paul was a tentmaker by trade but an evangelist to the Gentiles by calling.) If your occupation isn't your calling, you can still find significance in it.
Your calling may be something you become aware of at an early stage in life, even as a child. It could also be that you don't find your calling until much later in life.
Rather than one "mission" or "purpose" in life, most of us likely have multiple callings, some big and some small, some work-related, some not.
To use myself as an example, one of my callings is to speak, write, and teach. Another calling is to lead an evangelism ministry at my home church and share the Gospel one-on-one with nonbelievers. Yet another calling is to be a bonus mom to David, Christopher, and Michael (which entails serving as a chauffeur, cook, maid, workout buddy, friend, disciplinarian, and organizer of activities and outings).
I’m convinced our sense of fulfillment depends on how well we listen to and act on our calling or callings. When you're living out your calling, you're doing what God specifically created you for. This gives you a feeling of usefulness, contentment, and peace like not much else in life.
Sadly, so many of us who say we follow the Lord don't take our goals and dreams before Him. When deciding on a career path, we’re often, rather than being led by God, led by the prospects of wealth, recognition, self-realization, comfort, or security.
It's as if we expect the Lord to just put His stamp of approval on what we've already decided to pursue. (I don't think leaving God out of our plans is something we do deliberately; we just haven't thought a lot about what it looks like to include Him!)
Whether we're artistically or musically talented, stand out athletically, have great communication or leadership abilities, or excel in some other area, we can easily be tempted to use our gifts to serve ourselves instead of the kingdom. And if we allow ourselves to fall into this trap, we'll miss the entire purpose for which God gifted us as He did!
So, how can we know that we're in fact hearing from God about our calling, that it's not just our ego talking?
Well, if we want to know His will, we must tune our hearts to the frequency of His voice.
Everywhere we turn, we're bombarded with wordly messages about what's important in life. What to focus on. What to chase after. God's voice is drowned out amidst all the noise: this is why we don't hear Him or think we hear Him when it's really our flesh.
To get clear guidance from God, then, we need to deliberately place ourselves in settings and seek out activities that are going to expose us to the Truth:
Reading and meditating on Scripture
Fellowshipping with others in the family of God
Fasting
Serving in our churches and communities
Discipling new believers
Reading Christian books
Taking communion
Listening to worship music
These disciplines are like spiritual superchargers that can help bring us closer to the Lord’s will for us. Most of us already know about these disciplines, but if we’re honest with ourselves, how well are we taking advantage of them?
Many of us Christians don't spend nearly enough time seeking God’s will. On the other hand, we spend a lot of time soaking in the things of the world. Not necessarily sinful things but trivial things.
And we wonder why our spiritual vision is blurry, we don't experience joy in our walk with Jesus, and we can't figure out our calling!
In Romans 12:2, Paul tells us to "not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind." He continues, "Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will."
Paul is saying that when we stop listening to all the secular voices and instead let God use His Truth to change us from the inside out, we'll be able to discern His will for us.
No, God doesn't hide His will from those who want to know it. He constantly speaks to us about His will. And His voice is clear—never confusing or misleading!
With a little less time spent in front of the TV and scrolling on our phones and more time in our Bibles, on our knees, and hanging around other mature believers, we'll be opening ourselves up more and more to hearing from the Lord.
There's more to the process, but this is where we start: To find our calling, we start by going deeper—much deeper—with God.
L.B.
Be sure to head over to my website, where I have a brainstorming log you can download for free. This log shows you, step by step, how to find your calling from God!
Thoughts? Questions? Please let me know in the comments section below!
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