Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A Few Thoughts on Calling

The importance of calling.

Proverbs 29:18 says "Without vision people perish..." I've posted on this verse before so my avid readers may remember me sharing a better translation for it. The means "direction from God" and perish actually means "to run wild without moral restraint". When we look at today's society we see a lot of moral depravity, a lot of people who are running wild and have no direction or boundaries. According to this verse this depravity is a sign that we do not have enough people working with a clear vision from God. Another way of saying this is that we do not have enough people pursuing the calling that God has on their lives.

Every one of us has a calling whether we realize it or not.

In Jeremiah 29:11 God says to Israel “… I know the plans I have for you…” Though this was originally directed to Israel I believe that God is saying this to each and every one of us. He has plans for us and He knows what they are. The problem is that we have not taken the time to find out from Him what they are. Sometimes we don’t realize that there is a plan for us but other times we simply do not want to follow that plan because we have our own plan. We think that if we follow His plan it will mess with what we want to do. This is a silly notion because He is the creator of the universe and knows us better than we know ourselves. It seems clear that His plan would be more fitting for us than the plan that we may have for ourselves.

We need to find our personal calling.

Have you ever felt frustrated in your job? Have you ever felt like you were stuck and that you weren’t going anywhere, weren’t making any difference? Chances are you haven’t been pursuing the calling God has for you. Think back to when you first started seeking God (If you never have then start seeking Him), What was it that God placed in your heart at that time? What is your deepest desire to do in this life? If money was no object and you had all the resources and people needed what would you do? Find that ultimate calling in your life and write it down. Put it before your eyes and don’t forget it.

Start working towards that calling.

After you have identified what you want to do look at where you are at now and determine how you are working towards that goal. Most likely you will realize that you are working towards your ultimate calling in many more ways than you knew. This is also the time to determine what other ways you can start progressing towards that goal. Keep this in your view and you will suddenly be more motivated even if you are doing the same thing you were before. Your attitude will change because you will realize that you are working towards the vision that God has given you and you will better understand how what you are doing is making a difference.