Clarity for the Calling

“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19, ESV

The calling given by Jesus to brothers Peter and Andrew as they were fishing in the Galilean waters was life changing. Jesus then walking further up the shore called two other brothers, James and John, to follow him as well. Both sets of brothers immediately dropped their nets and followed him, leaving their old lives behind.

God has been calling people to follow him from the beginning. But what does “calling” mean? In Baptist churches I attended years ago, there were frequent calls in the invitation time to surrender to a calling to ministry. I don’t see pastors doing that as much. It’s one thing to read about the call of the apostles who heard the voice of Jesus of Nazareth and left all to follow him and quite another for us to consider the calling Jesus may have on our lives today.

This brings up so many questions. Do only certain people have a “calling?” Does a “calling” involve my vocation? How would I know if I have a “calling” and what could it be?

There can be a lot of confusion around this word “calling.” Let me add seven points of clarity to this mystery of the calling of God on a life.

First, I want to give credit where credit is due. I found a lot of help in understanding “calling” from Oz Guinness’ book: The Call: Finding and Fulfilling God’s Purpose for Your Life. If you are struggling with general meaning and purpose for your life, I recommend you work through his book. It is large and very comprehensive on the issue of “calling.”

Second, the calling of Jesus is more than a calling to a vocation. Some would say that a “calling” has two parts. The first part is a big “C” Calling. The big “C” Calling is more about your relationship with God, your identity, your character and values, and your ultimate purpose in life. Second, they would then classify a vocational choice as a little “c” calling. The little “c” calling is how you live this out in the everyday life. Many will have the little “c” calling of raising a family, holding a job, serving in their church, and sharing the Gospel in the world. Little “c” calling is not little. It is vitally important. Little “c” calling involves knowing your talents, strengths and weaknesses, abilities, tendencies and more. Therefore, one part of calling is about who you are, and the other part is about what you do.

Third, the calling of Jesus is a calling to follow Jesus. It is first a calling to a saving relationship to him. So, everyone who is a believer in Jesus Christ and has experienced the new birth has had a call from God. This is not all of the call, but it is the greatest part.

Fourth, the calling of Jesus by nature is personal, powerful, precious, and perplexing. It is personal in that Jesus at some point in your life came to you and revealed himself as Savior and Lord and you responded to him. He…called…you.

The calling to follow Jesus is powerful because you are following him. You are invited into his inner circle to be taught and empowered by him.

It is precious, for you have access to the Lord Jesus every moment of every day. It is an intimate access. He already knows you to the very depths of your soul and he wants you to know him in all his fullness.

Last, it is perplexing because his calling on your life will work out in ways you will not expect. God called childless Abraham to be the father of many nations. God called a young shepherd boy to be king over Israel. God called a frightened Gideon, hiding in a shed, to lead a very few of God’s people to battle a mighty Midian army, and God called an octogenarian who thought his life was over to lead his people out of Egyptian bondage and to the Promised Land. Jesus also chose 12 ordinary flawed men entrusting his life work in their hands. Yes, God’s call can be perplexing. If he can call all these, he can call you.

Fifth, the calling of Jesus is revealed not discovered. We may seek God and how to know him (the big “C” Calling) and we may seek to find out how we’re wired; what we do best and how doing that fits us and brings satisfaction (the little “c” calling). But all of it starts with Jesus. God has put eternity in our hearts for a reason. He is the initiator. For us to find God as revealed in his Son, Jesus Christ, he must first awaken us. We were dead in our trespasses and sin, but God has made us alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:1, 5).

Sixth, the calling of Jesus is counter cultural. The world says, “You are what you do.” The calling of Jesus says, “Do what you are.” What believers do with their lives comes out of their allegiance to Christ. Our calling is not about us. It is from Jesus to Jesus and for Jesus. We should never forget that. We should also never forget that our value doesn’t come from our ability but from our Lord. Therefore, what we do, we do for him. Our gifts and abilities are not for ourselves, but for Jesus. One radio commentator used to say his “talent was on loan from God.” One day he gave that talent back. So will we.

Seven, the calling of Jesus has distinctions that are kept in tension. There is the distinction between personal and corporate calling. Our personal response to the call of Jesus on our life is important, but there is also a calling that we have in common with other followers of Christ. We are individually members of the body of Christ. We are individuals but we are part of a body and need the body to balance our lives.

There is a distinction between a personal calling and a later, special calling. The apostle Paul is an example of this kind of personal calling to Christ and then his special calling as an apostle to the Gentiles.

The last thing I want to say about this distinction is the difference between the clarity of a calling and the mystery of a calling. I began writing this to provide clarity, and I hope I have. But I cannot provide total clarity.

“Who am I?” and “How should I live?” are questions that aren’t easy to answer. These questions apply generally to all of us, and the Bible will give us answers to these. God’s calling on your life will always be in alignment with what he has said in the Scriptures. If you come across someone who says God has called them to do something that is contrary to the Bible, then they have misread the call.

There are a lot of great tools that help us in our vocation (that part of our calling) such as spiritual gift tests, aptitude assessments, the Enneagram and personality assessments. But there is still a mystery. We are mind, body, and spirit. We find our calling in worship and in listening to God through his Word and in connection and service to his church. I believe God does it this way so that we will have one more reason to stay closely connected to him. Calling is static but it is also dynamic. So yes, Jesus said “Follow me.” I’d say, “Follow him closely.”

SECOND CHANCE FOR SIGNIFICANCE

For more than twenty-years, Lisa’s primary focus was working her way up the corporate ladder in the Human Resources (HR) department of a large publicly traded company. Day after day she worked hard to meet the demands of her superiors and colleagues, until one morning she woke up with a sickened, sinking feeling in her stomach.

It was her career, she realized. Having spent nearly half of her life working in an unsatisfying job, with few genuine accomplishments and the goals of her youth long forgotten, Lisa had hit midlife and she didn’t like it. She came to the realization that God was calling her to do something different.

To alleviate the feeling in her stomach, Lisa began making a conscious effort to pay more attention to the gap between the reality of her life and the dreams and passions she once had. She had always enjoyed serving others, especially the elderly. Through a series of events and conversations with a Christian leadership coach, Lisa came to believe that God was calling her to serve the elderly as a ministry career. She was determined to jump on this and make the rest of her life more meaningful and fulfilling.

Today, Lisa, is the owner and operator of a Christian adult day care facility in Houston, Texas. She is now planning her next venture—an assisted living program for low-income elderly residents. God is using Lisa in wonderful ways to add hope and purpose to the growing elderly population around her. Her own life is blessed beyond her own hopes and dreams. God is using her previous experience in HR in addition to her love for Christ and his people to create enriching, faith-filled environments for those reaching the end of their lives here on this earth.

Craving a more fulfilling and meaningful career is just one area of focus as adults near these mid-life adjustments. As they get older, they experience parents and older relatives begin to die. There is the realization that their lives, too, will come to an end. They start moving from chasing “success” to instead, seeking after “significance”. Success and significance don’t need to be mutually exclusive. The priority of making a lasting impact and doing what makes us fulfilled becomes more important. This is the time closet authors, dreaming entrepreneurs, hopeful worship leaders, delayed missionaries, potential church planters, and budding artists will begin thinking about careers to match their energy, vitality, values, faith, talent, skills, and passion for life.

The life cycle is, for most of us, fairly predictable. From adolescence to age 30 plus, most of us are consumed with learning how to become who we think we want to be. We go from our 30s to our 40s working and living that role. But in the later 40s and 50s, after having reached this goal, many discover it wasn’t what we wanted to do after all. At this midlife point, after having worked so hard only to find ourselves wanting, many are willing to take on the challenge of more risk and freeing ourselves from the burden of others’ expectations.

Longer life expectancy plays a part too. At midlife and later, people realize they still have decades yet to live and wonder how they will spend those years. They know they’re going to have lots of healthy years, so I think it’s a period of making choices to live out a new assignment that is the calling of God on their life.

Like Lisa, more women than ever are using their midlife and later years as a springboard to experience career and ministry makeovers. They want a vocation that matches their energy and makes them feel useful, significant, and fulfilled. After all, God made us with these desires.

The lesson we can take from Lisa’s story is that midlife should not be feared, and that the sinking feeling in your stomach should not be ignored. Both are an accepted call to action. God may be calling you to take what you have learned and who you have become into a new and exciting chapter of your life.

Are you ready to make a change? Is God calling you to something different? Here are seven tips for getting started.

1. Make a list of the things missing from your life

Do you long to revive a passion from your youth that you never found time to pursue? Is it music, a sport, writing, cooking, entrepreneurship? It doesn’t matter what, as long as it’s something you truly have a desire to do. Could it have been a call from God to a ministry? If you've already got a clear picture of things you'd like to pursue, then identify small, achievable ways you can start incorporating them into your life.

2. Imagine that you already have over a million dollars in the bank

I’m suggesting this in order to free you up, at least for a little while, from the cares of daily life. If money were not a consideration, how would you spend your time each day? Think of the environment you'd like to be in, the people you'd want to know, and how you would relate to them. What activities would you engage in? Chances are your passions come to the surface when being concerned about paying the bills is taken off the table. Although we’re not all destined to be millionaires, that shouldn’t hold you back from following your desires and placing more value in yourself, regardless of your bank account balance.

3. Tap into your wisdom and experience to re-evaluate your current career

Ask yourself what’s not working and what you want to change. Use this time to reflect on your life. Are there any passions or dreams that over time you abandoned? If you don’t know what you want to do, try volunteering as a way to develop new interests. Find a way to live your passion everyday. I once heard someone say, "You don’t get what you want out of life, but what you believe."

4. Tap into the wisdom and experience of another person

Lisa shared her thoughts and desires with other people she trusted. It’s good to have close friends in your corner, but sometimes they will not share with you some of the hard realities they see in the choices you are considering. If you are serious about exploring a change, then you should consider talking to someone experienced in life-changing transitions. There are Christian leadership coaches who specialize in helping others find God’s calling and vocation. If you know what new vocation you are wanting to explore, then find someone successful in that career and get their advice. Most people want to help and will jump at a time to give their wisdom over a cup of coffee. Sometimes doors are opened as a result.

5. Understand your passion, but also where your strengths lie

It’s critical to take an inventory of your life and to determine what is really important. Make a list of the things you are passionate about, and then narrow the list to items that present an opportunity to generate income. If you’re not pursuing these desires, what’s in the way?

You should also know your talents, gifts, temperament, and personality traits. Self-knowledge and self-awareness are the place to begin. The great reformed theologian John Calvin even wrote about this in the beginning of his Institutes of the Christian Religion:

“Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.”

Wisdom in life is tied to knowing God and knowing self. We should be students of both. One of the best ways to know more of self and to develop an understanding of emotional intelligence. This will apply to all areas of life, not just what you have chosen to work on. One of the best tools I know of for self-discovery is the Enneagram. I have been so impressed with its potential for personal discovery and growth that I became a certified practitioner, working with individuals, church staff, and non-profit boards of directors.

6. Keep your day job

You don’t have to quit your day job to focus on your new calling. It’s not an all or nothing proposition. I meet people all the time who say they’re working full-time and pursuing their dreams on the side, in their free-er time. You may still need to earn a living while you transition onto your new path. This is true whether you’re planning to start a business or preparing to establish a new career.

7. Start right now

Over the next 30 days; make a commitment to yourself to identify one thing you can do to begin pursuing your passion—and start doing it! Research ways to integrate your passion with your current obligations and take those first steps into your second career with achievable goals. You’ll soon discover that living and working your passion is being in control of your own life.

An Inappropriate Measure of Fear

“Worry is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do; but it won’t take you anywhere.” – Unknown.

“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6–7, CSB)

We are called to be responsible. That’s what adults do. We do responsibility. However, we move into anxiety when we are worried and fearful about things we have no control, such as: A meteor hitting the earth, or if someone is to die, or if we get sick, have a car accident, whether someone likes us or not.

There are some things we should be concerned about but have no reason to worry. Being concerned can be a positive thing when it moves us to action, such as going to a medical doctor when you find something physically wrong with you or to a mechanic when your car is acting up.

Worry happens when I’m on the throne of my life, when I’m in the kingdom of me. It’s the belief that I have to run my life and if I don’t make it happen, it won’t.

We may believe God loves us, but we also may believe He’s not concerned with the everyday details of our lives. The false belief says that we must meet all our needs, or they won’t get met. Faith says, “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory” (Phil. 4:19).

You ask, “Jimmy, how can I break this grip worry has on me?” I’m glad you asked. Typical to my usual style, I’m giving you five things you can do now in order to deal with worry.

Five Things You Can Do Now in Order to Deal with Worry.

These are things that you shouldn’t put off, not for one day or one hour. These will not solve every person’s issue of worry, for there could also be medical issues going on in some people, but even with this, it will help everyone some and most a lot.

1. Admit to yourself that you really do have control over whether you worry or not.

Okay, let’s make this personal shall we? “I really do have control over whether I worry or not.” Say that with me. You have someone to give that worry to, so you don’t have to. Here’s how.

2. Begin each day with God.

Read the Scriptures, discover who God is and what He says about you. It is food for the weak and worrisome soul. If your worry is out of control, look up the Scriptures that speak on worry, such as Phil. 4:6-7 and Matt. 6:25-34.

3. Write your worry down and pray it up to God.

I keep a prayer journal. I write most of my prayers to God in my journal. Some of the items are things, I’ll admit, things that I worry about. I need to seek God’s direction for them and in many cases, just give them over to God because there is very little or nothing, I can do about them myself. I feel better after I do this. There is something that is very therapeutic in getting the worry out of you, writing it down, and recognizing you are not the only one in this equation. Then you pray it up to God and leave it with Him.

4. Create boundaries and respect them.

Set a time and place for when you will pray out your worries. I mean this to include a plan of action if there is something you will need to do as well. Are you worried about a History test or a job competency test? Well certainly pray, but if you develop a play of study that will help your worries as well. Limit your worry list and how much time you can worry. When a worrisome thought hit you, say to yourself, “I will take care of that with God in my prayer time.” Jot it down in your journal if you need to but leave it for the next day. Jesus even commanded us not to worry about tomorrow, for today has enough already. There are boundaries to worry, and you need to respect them. Last.

5. Change your thinking by memorizing and meditating on the Scriptures.

Most of our problems have to do with our thinking. Our emotions are first based on thought patterns. Even at the basic level, our thinking and our perception of the world affects our emotions first. Now emotions will also affect thoughts, but only after a certain way of thinking is in place and an event of some kind then triggers the emotion.

The key to solving worry is to change the way you perceive the world and God. Change your worldview. You can do that. Fight for it to become a Christian Worldview and to do that you must saturate your mind with scripture. The best scripture to use are the ones that demonstrate the opposite of your problem. With worry, Philippians 4:6-8 or Philippians 4:19 are great to use. Write them on cards and carry them with you. Looking at them and going over it phrase by phrase.

Memorizing is one thing, the next is to meditate on it. Think about each word. Study the individual words in the verse using Bible word study books. Study the verse by using a good commentary or two or three or four. Study the passage and then overview the chapter and even the book.

Apply it to life situations. You are about to make a presentation at work. You are going to seek a new job. Make a part of you. It is you. When it is you, you will find your mind going back to it over and over again. That is when you are gaining the victory over worry.

If God is for us, who is against us? …We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31b,37b-39, CSB