I’m totally loving Jon Acuff’s–author and blogger of Stuff Christians Like–post, I want destiny, not a desert. You have to check it out–he cracks me up!
He hits on how we, as Christians, romanticize the idea of our calling…we think when we’ve been called to do something by God it’s going to be this big adventure like you are in the starring role of some karate-chop, kick- action type of movie, but often times God will lead us into a “desert” place that has us totally confused! So true…I mean, I can’t tell you how many times I have asked “God, what are you doing–I should be freeing slaves in India by now, what’s the hold up?”
Yes, it can trip us up when we aren’t where we thought we were going to be, but I think we can get even more tripped up about what our “calling” is. Maybe it’s just me, but I hear a lot of church talk about finding our purpose, our calling, and what has God called you to do. No kidding, I spent three years of my life in a constant state of crazy stress because I was trying to find my divine calling, so afraid I would miss that one thing God had planned for my life. I would dare say that Christians everywhere have at some point freaked out about this too…I mean, after all, you have to have a calling, right?
It’s funny to me how we have kind of equated our calling with our career too. Think about it… when we are getting ready for college or seeking employment we ask “what career is God calling me into?” That’s great and all because we should be asking God what kind of job we should take. We should be asking Him who to marry, and how to handle our money. We should ask God a lot of things, but I think we are putting a little too much emphasis on the “calling” thing and missing the big picture.
Does God have plans for my life? Yes. Does He let me know there are things He wants me to do? Yes. Does He have one specific calling/plan/purpose for me? I don’t think so or I would have said “Okay God, I married the guy you gave the green light on. Thanks for giving me that one thing you called me to do; I’ll chill out now until I get to heaven.”
My one and only “calling/purpose” is to love God and love others, and that applies in every situation that I’m in–which as an Army wife, has been several different situations. It bums me out sometimes that I’m not always excelling at what I was designed to do, but, nevertheless, I keep on truck’n. My calling isn’t really wrapped up in my career, but it’s wrapped up in my life and how I live. God gives us choices, and we read His word–the Bible–and learn about His character which will enable us to choose wisely like He would choose whether it’s a career, a spouse etc., but our calling/purpose is to love God and love others, and as followers of Christ, we are all called to that. So stop freaking out if you can’t figure out where to spend your summer mission trip or which charity to give to or if God wants you to be an astronaut or a stay at home Mom…get to know about God and His character and make the wise choice.