Have You Discovered Your Calling From God? (Part3)

In article one, I shared how many believers never seem to get past the infancy stage in their Christian walk because they have not been taught to live a surrendered life to Christ and the kingdom of God. They agree with the principles Jesus taught about seeking the kingdom of God but, for them, that mainly means not engaging in a sinful lifestyle. Most of their personal study in the scriptures revolves around discovering God’s promises on how to get their personal needs and desire fulfilled rather than embracing God’s promises to fulfill God’s purpose for them.  The idea of living for a higher calling, one of divine purpose, seems to always be challenged by their focus on themselves and thus they can’t hear God’s voice on much else.

All of the examples in scripture of people who heard God speak to them about their calling understood God was calling them to greater maturity and sacrifice in this life. Some, like Abraham, did indeed become wealthy as they walked out their calling but not before they offered up their desires to honor God’s desires first. When we look at what great saints accomplished in scripture, we often focus on the finished product of their faith and not the process or cost that came with it. Remember that Jesus lived a life of sacrifice in order to achieve the Father’s purpose.  That sacrificial life enabled him to provide the means for the redemption of humanity while calling us to imitate his sacrificial life.

In the first article, we also saw how God calls all of us to combat the problem of pride in our lives in order to develop the character and quality of humility.  There are many places in scripture that illustrate the principle that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. This principle is a truth in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. So often our concept of grace is reduced to receiving when in fact the apostle Paul uses the idea of grace with the the meaning of having an infusion of power to do the will of God. Translations over the years have been influenced by religious background when translating grace more than the context in which the different verses are written. Grace is not so much unmerited favor but rather God’s presence releasing power in our time of need, whether that is for ministry or resisting temptation or overcoming adversity.

In the second article, we looked at how great saints of old caught God’s heart in serving others. If we are looking for a great calling without understanding that the calling of God is always coupled with a servant’s heart then we will always be trying to accomplish our calling in the flesh rather than in the Spirit. God the Father gave his very best in his Son, Jesus.  Jesus gave his best in serving people around him and if we desire to walk in our calling from God we also will be required to anchor our calling in the service both God and his children.

In this final article on God’s calling, I want to lay out some basic principles about how we discover our calling and how we can either hinder or enhance that calling. Our calling is like prophecy. God speaks what could be and if we cooperate with his purpose, method, and timing of any given word, prophecy will come to pass as God said it would if we meet the conditions.  The calling of King Solomon is a good illustration of this. He was prophetically promised that God would bless him and his family lineage and that Solomon’s heir would be on the throne of David in the future.  However, there were conditions attached for that prophecy to come true. Solomon failed to follow the instructions of the Lord in many areas and thus Israel was torn apart. With that being said, let’s look at the ways to discover our calling.

First, let me say that there is NO FORMULA for discovering our calling. In other words, what worked with one person may or may not work with another. God tailors our calling to our unique gifting, experience and history.  There are elements and attitudes that God is looking for in all of us that either releases or hinders our calling.

Secondly, it is through the nature of our intimacy with God that our calling is both realized and experienced. God is looking for maturity to be developed in us as we get closer to him. The deeper we pursue his presence the more we are able to hear the voice of God and know his heart. Now mind you, Jesus said his sheep hear his voice and they follow him. All sheep don’t listen the same, and all do not follow as closely as others and thus God does not disclose his thoughts and plans to the ones that are casual in the listening and following experience.

Thirdly, how we handle God’s testing is either a qualifier or a denier with regards too calling. God tests us all because we need those times of testing to reveal the depth of our love and loyalty or if we need more training in our walk with God. King David is recorded as being “A Man After God’s Own Heart” yet even David failed a number of tests which affected his calling.

Fourthly, concerns the subject of obedience. Often the Lord gives us directions in our calling that are specific yet we often treat them as being general in nature. In other words, we bend the rules with God’s directions.  When we do that our calling may explode in our face and thus we blame God for the failure when in fact our failure was attributed to our sloppiness in obeying his directions. There are times that God gives us great latitude in accomplishing certain tasks but when he is specific we should be too.

Fifthly, our calling is hinged to our gifting. Our giftings are always given in its raw form and thus must be developed. If, for instance, we have been gifted by God with the gifting of music but never practice our gift will stay in its infancy all our lives, which greatly affects our ability to walk our our calling.

Sixthly, how we mange fear affects our calling. The apostle Peter had a major calling to lead the early church and yet in the book of Galatians he was confronted by Paul about an area of fear because he was fearful of men from James in Jerusalem. This was over 2o years since Jesus rose from the dead and yet Peter let the fear of man control his honesty and calling.

Seventh, our calling relates to how closely we listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Paul said we should be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 4:30. The idea Paul is communicating is don’t make the Holy spirit SAD! The word grieve is also translated DISTRESSED, which implies a strain on our relationship with the Holy Spirit.

There are other areas in life and ministry that can affect the hearing and perceiving of our calling, as well our ability to live out our calling to its completeness. Walking closely with the Lord and his word are the meat and potatoes of our Christian walk. Walking closely with the Holy Spirit will fuel our calling into an extraordinary journey if we so choose.

Questions:

1) Have you sought God’s calling in your life? If not, why not?

2) Will you decide to move more closely into your calling in 2022? God is waiting!

May the Holy Spirit cause a holy fire in our souls to accomplish all that is on the Father’s heart.

Pastor Dale