“Before you know what your calling is, you must believe you are called to something.” – Jeff Goins

“Calling is not only a matter of being and doing what we are but also becoming what we are not yet but are called by God to be.” – Oz Guinness

“I want us all to fulfill our greatest potential – to find our calling and summon the courage to live it.” – Oprah Winfrey

“For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10

I love the quote above by Jeff Goins.  It prompts the question, “Do you believe you are called to something?”

If you are at all spiritual, and particularly if you are a Christian, your answer to this question should be fast and stated with a sense of deep conviction.  As the Bible verses above remind us, God indeed has a plan for us, a calling so to speak, that is centered in good works – prepared for us in advance of our human birth.  God’s plans aren’t limited to those who believe, yet so many people go through life ignorant to the idea that their life has deeper meaning to themselves and others.  Just this simple awareness can bring us greater personal growth and help us to lead a life that is full of meaning and purpose.

But even Christians can misconstrue what this calling represents.  For some, it revolves around a ministry or stewardship of some kind.  But for most of us, our calling has little to do with formally teaching, preaching, or spreading the gospel.   I connect with how Oz Guinness describes our calling in terms of “becoming what we are not yet but are called by God to be.”

Our calling revolves around what our soul is here to learn in this life – a destiny that is centered in our spiritual growth and development.  Can you see the “good works” that come from this – not only for us but for others!  God has a purpose for us – to learn something, to become something, to impact something or someone.

Aspects of our calling are entirely oblivious to us.  As God’s handiwork, we are created to serve His purposes.  I can’t think of a better example of this than a story my mom shared with me this morning.

My Grandpa Homann passed away in September of 1965 – just a few months before my brother John was born.  My mom recalls that when Grandma Homann came to help her after his birth, she seemed to find tremendous comfort in holding baby John Carl (my grandpa’s name was Carl) for hours on end.  It was as if holding on to that baby was like holding on to life and hope itself.

Only weeks old, my brother John had a calling – to provide a form of solace to my grandmother during a difficult time in her life.  Of course, a tiny baby is oblivious to such a role, but as God’s handiwork, he was created in Christ Jesus to do “good works” which were prepared in advance for him to accomplish.

Think about your life and how this form of a calling can be outside of your immediate awareness, but you are called by God for a moment in time to change someone’s life in a special way.  My friend, it could even be a simple smile as you pass a stranger that prevents them from taking their life later that day or a tiny moment in time that you barely remember and that moment changes the direction of someone’s life.  What a wonderful thought that God uses us, calls us, to fulfill His purposes in this unsuspecting way.

Looking back at your life in hindsight, can you see how God might have called you to help someone?  Can you see the situations and circumstances you faced being placed in your pathway with intention – to strengthen your faith, to love more fully, or to build your compassion toward others through the trials you encountered?  Have you learned to trust more, understand the true meaning of peace, or have you connected with the grace you experienced exactly at the time and place you needed it?

What are you facing RIGHT NOW that God is calling you to?  How is he using you?  What is he teaching you?  How are you learning and growing through this calling that is uniquely designed with YOU in the center of it?  How is it bringing you closer to God?  How is it serving you and serving others?

I believe our calling requires us to look at our lives differently than we do.  Like Oprah mentions above in her quote, it takes courage to live out and make the most of our calling.

Why is this?

When you think about it, to recognize that your life has a purpose behind it and to live out that purpose, you must let go of the idea of a fate-driven and ego-centered existence.  To do this, we need to understand that life isn’t all about pleasure and living it with self-centered gusto.  It is about giving our lives to God sacrificially – to allow him to use us and change us by ‘becoming what we are not yet but are called by God to be.”

Serving God, serving others, striving to become a better person…. These things are filled with critical self-analysis, humility, and sacrifice.  For these reasons, we tend to avoid or deny we have a calling all together. 

But my friend, you have a calling on your life whether you believe it or not.  God has created you with intention and purpose.  Believe this, and you will begin to see how your Creator is working in your life, you will begin to recognize in yourself and others the “good works” he has called you to do.  You will see and experience personal growth like never before and you will fulfill the destiny God has intended for you and for those who share your life 😊

So…Do you believe you are called to something?

May we each find the courage to seek it out and to live it to the fullest!  God bless!