God is calling…

When I was a senior in high school, I had an experience with God. It changed the course of my life. Internally I had struggled to fully commit to the faith I had been raised in. But as if overnight my heart had been permanently bent in a new direction.

This new excitement for what I now believed to be true disrupted my decision-making on what the future looked like. I was trying to decide what occupation to train for. At one point I was looking at going into the Marines. I was looking at becoming a civil engineer. I was looking at going into some sort of physical training. But it all felt much less exciting than the faith that had grabbed my heart.

I decided that there was no better use of my future time than pursuing the faith as a minister.

God opened many doors, I preached in many places throughout college, and have been in professional ministry ever since.

In spite of years of ministry, I am left wondering about this idea of being “called”. (To be “called” is to have been given a clear directive of what to do in life, often related to a life in ministry.) Is this the life that God wanted for me? Did I miss something, did I get it right? What is God calling me to be?

Maybe you have had similar questions. It is not like God actually calls us on the telephone and gives us a clear direction on where we ought to head. Maybe we have an experience with God where we feel God has sent us one way or another, but there are many details of the plan that often feel fuzzy at best.

I have come to the conclusion that we overcomplicate this idea of “calling”.

We so badly want to know the future plans God has for us. We want to know what job God wants us in, at what company, in which town, whether we should move or stay…

In our desire to know what to do, we miss out on who God has called us to be.

In Scripture, we see the specific calls of Moses and of David and we think of our own journeys in a similar manner. The truth is that for most of the Bible, God’s “calling” is less about a specific job and more about a way of being.

To be called is to be brought close to God. To be called is to be asked to be faithful to God. To be called is to share with the Church your gifting, to love one another, and to be a peacemaker. These callings can be done in any job, in any state, at all times.

We find that the call of God is often less about something specific and instead to be someone specific — that is to be like Christ.

I have a lot more to say on this idea of calling, which is why I wrote a small book on it.

If you want a FREE digital copy of my new book “What is God Calling Me to Be?” send me an email at [email protected] with the subject line Calling.

You also can purchase a print copy on Amazon by clicking here.

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