CALLING
What is one's calling? Is it what you're good at? Where the need is greatest? Where the doors are open? Where there is the most receptivity? The least? Where you are enjoying your greatest successes? Or your greatest failures?
Let's take a look at each of these possibilities. All of them flavor one's discernment of divine calling. But I believe none of them, by themselves, is an accurate barometer of calling.
Talents: To be sure, God gives us talents, that we are to use for His glory. Some are spiritual gifts, apportioned by the Holy Spirit, like preaching or mercy. Others are natural skills, like law or mathematics, which are no less useful for the Kingdom. It is incomplete, though, to say that just because I am good at something, it is automatically assumed that is my vocation and calling. The Bible is full of people and stories which illustrate what we might called "unfulfilled potential." Joseph, Moses, Daniel, and Paul were brilliantly minds, who used their minds in secular and religious ways, to the glory of God; but they didn't accomplish all in this world that they could've, because they gave so much of themselves and their time to things that didn't matter so much for this world -- but mattered everything for eternity. Jesus repeatedly challenged His followers to leave things behind -- careers, family, livelihoods -- for the sake of the gospel. Jesus Himself, of all humans, had unlimited natural and spiritual skills; but often left throngs wanting for His healing, so He could move on to another village.
Need: This is even more seductive of a possibility that talent. It seems so noble to go where the need is greatest, and indeed, it is telling that in many ways, we Christians are poorly allocated in our efforts to win souls and seek justice. But meeting needs can become an idol unto itself. Again, Jesus is our Exhibit A: while He stated He came to preach and heal, He left many cities and people where He could've done a lot of preaching and healing, instead committing Himself to twelve men, to going to Jerusalem, and to dying on a cross. To say that our calling is to simply go where there is need that we can meet is to 1) make ourselves too important; and 2) keep ourselves busy meeting needs and feeling good about ourselves, but not necessarily fulfilling our divine calling.
Open doors, great success, receptivity: Success and popularity are awfully seductive. Of the many things I marvel about Jesus, what impresses me the most is His ability to remain true to self and mission in the midst of overwhelming popularity and crushing opposition. An open door simply means you CAN do something, no more and no less. It doesn't tell you anything about whether you should or shouldn't. Similarly, success and popularity aren't always accurate barometers of whether you are doing the right thing. There were times in the lives of the Bible's great ones -- Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus -- when they were doing the right thing, and it sure didn't look successful or popular. But it needed to be done.
Closed doors, failure, rejection: The opposite can seem like confirmation, too. "Opposition means I'm doing the right thing, because Satan is not pleased." Perhaps. But just as the existence of success doesn't not confirm correct paths, neither does the absence of it. To be sure, failure and rejection don't necessarily mean you're on the wrong path; but they also don't tell you that you aren't. Closed doors could mean a "no" from God. You could fail or be rejected because this isn't what you were made to do. By itself, such things can't answer that burning question inside me: what is the purpose of my life?
So what is it? How do you discern calling? I believe it comes from being in relationship with God, dwelling on His greatness, feeding on His richness, delighting in His presence. To be close to the Father is to have His heart rub off on you. And that nearness -- beholding turning into becoming -- will translate into a passion inside you that you simply cannot shed. Perhaps it is for cross-cultural pioneering work among peoples who have never heard of the name of Jesus. Perhaps it is for seeking justice for society's oppressed. Perhaps it is pastoring a church or teaching kindergarten or coaching high school girls basketball. It is impossible to feed from the divine without emerging with a burning passion to do something in this world that helps glorify God and bring His Kingdom closer to reality here on earth.
"Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart," is not a me-first verse: "I'll do my thing with God, so that I can get what I want." It is a basking in the greatness that is God, so that your desires becomes His for you. To behold is to become. I believe this is the essence of calling: take in all of who God is. Then you will know what your life purpose is. And your heart and soul will not rest until it is accomplished in your lifetime.
What is one's calling? Is it what you're good at? Where the need is greatest? Where the doors are open? Where there is the most receptivity? The least? Where you are enjoying your greatest successes? Or your greatest failures?
Let's take a look at each of these possibilities. All of them flavor one's discernment of divine calling. But I believe none of them, by themselves, is an accurate barometer of calling.
Talents: To be sure, God gives us talents, that we are to use for His glory. Some are spiritual gifts, apportioned by the Holy Spirit, like preaching or mercy. Others are natural skills, like law or mathematics, which are no less useful for the Kingdom. It is incomplete, though, to say that just because I am good at something, it is automatically assumed that is my vocation and calling. The Bible is full of people and stories which illustrate what we might called "unfulfilled potential." Joseph, Moses, Daniel, and Paul were brilliantly minds, who used their minds in secular and religious ways, to the glory of God; but they didn't accomplish all in this world that they could've, because they gave so much of themselves and their time to things that didn't matter so much for this world -- but mattered everything for eternity. Jesus repeatedly challenged His followers to leave things behind -- careers, family, livelihoods -- for the sake of the gospel. Jesus Himself, of all humans, had unlimited natural and spiritual skills; but often left throngs wanting for His healing, so He could move on to another village.
Need: This is even more seductive of a possibility that talent. It seems so noble to go where the need is greatest, and indeed, it is telling that in many ways, we Christians are poorly allocated in our efforts to win souls and seek justice. But meeting needs can become an idol unto itself. Again, Jesus is our Exhibit A: while He stated He came to preach and heal, He left many cities and people where He could've done a lot of preaching and healing, instead committing Himself to twelve men, to going to Jerusalem, and to dying on a cross. To say that our calling is to simply go where there is need that we can meet is to 1) make ourselves too important; and 2) keep ourselves busy meeting needs and feeling good about ourselves, but not necessarily fulfilling our divine calling.
Open doors, great success, receptivity: Success and popularity are awfully seductive. Of the many things I marvel about Jesus, what impresses me the most is His ability to remain true to self and mission in the midst of overwhelming popularity and crushing opposition. An open door simply means you CAN do something, no more and no less. It doesn't tell you anything about whether you should or shouldn't. Similarly, success and popularity aren't always accurate barometers of whether you are doing the right thing. There were times in the lives of the Bible's great ones -- Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus -- when they were doing the right thing, and it sure didn't look successful or popular. But it needed to be done.
Closed doors, failure, rejection: The opposite can seem like confirmation, too. "Opposition means I'm doing the right thing, because Satan is not pleased." Perhaps. But just as the existence of success doesn't not confirm correct paths, neither does the absence of it. To be sure, failure and rejection don't necessarily mean you're on the wrong path; but they also don't tell you that you aren't. Closed doors could mean a "no" from God. You could fail or be rejected because this isn't what you were made to do. By itself, such things can't answer that burning question inside me: what is the purpose of my life?
So what is it? How do you discern calling? I believe it comes from being in relationship with God, dwelling on His greatness, feeding on His richness, delighting in His presence. To be close to the Father is to have His heart rub off on you. And that nearness -- beholding turning into becoming -- will translate into a passion inside you that you simply cannot shed. Perhaps it is for cross-cultural pioneering work among peoples who have never heard of the name of Jesus. Perhaps it is for seeking justice for society's oppressed. Perhaps it is pastoring a church or teaching kindergarten or coaching high school girls basketball. It is impossible to feed from the divine without emerging with a burning passion to do something in this world that helps glorify God and bring His Kingdom closer to reality here on earth.
"Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart," is not a me-first verse: "I'll do my thing with God, so that I can get what I want." It is a basking in the greatness that is God, so that your desires becomes His for you. To behold is to become. I believe this is the essence of calling: take in all of who God is. Then you will know what your life purpose is. And your heart and soul will not rest until it is accomplished in your lifetime.
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