When God Calls

I always thought that if God were to just beam down from heaven and tell me what I was supposed to do with my life that I would do it. I wouldn’t hesitate, I wouldn’t question, I wouldn’t fight it. Unfortunately, that whole speaking audibly to me thing has yet to happen…

College operated as a buffer zone for me. I had 4 years to figure out what I really wanted to do (if that whole MRS Degree didn’t work out, that is). I had 4 years to hone in on something I could get excited about and pursue and then get educated in. I had 4 years to figure out what the Lord wanted me to do with my life.

Who was I kidding?

It took me two years before I was willing to even declare a major and at that point I only picked one because it was necessary. The result? A degree I could complete in the 2 remaining years I had left and one that was general enough to ultimately mean nothing: Communications. I still don’t even know what my degree qualifies me for. But, I have it.

6 years later I'm now facing another stage of ‘what’s next?’.  If you think this is the first time since graduating college that I've faced this, you’d be wrong. I’ll save my ‘quitting my current job, moving back home, applying to grad schools, and arranging for a life in Seattle only to change my mind a week later’ story for another day… but the point is that I think we get a tad bit ridiculous when we contemplate what the Lord would have us do with ourselves.

It’s taken me a while to simply be okay with not necessarily having this grandiose vision for my life—to be okay with not having a specific, direct calling from the Lord…and to not let either of those things keep me paralyzed.

‘Cause I think that’s what inevitably happens to us. We get so scared of making the wrong decision with our next steps that we stand still. We get so concerned that we are going to miss out on what the Lord is calling us to, that we miss out on things that we are passionate about and gifted in.

I really do believe that the Lord calls us to things for a specific time and a specific purpose…sometimes. I believe that most of the time He has created us to be people who have hopes and dreams and He longs to see us walk in the fullness of those things…and He longs to see us do them in a way that fully reflects our love for Him and our love for others.

Does it have to get much more complicated than that?

I can grow weary of those who are panicky about their futures because they don’t know what they’re ‘supposed’ to do with their life. You do know. As believers we’ve been given a very specific calling…but it’s one that also usually allows room for us to choose our careers and our locations.

I also realize that as much as I tell myself that I would do whatever the Lord asked, if I just knew what it was…I see in Scripture how that’s not always the case. Check out Jonah. Or Moses. Or Gideon. Or Peter. There’s always hesitations, or resistance, or insecurity, or doubt, or fear, or pride, or just not wanting to.

Man, what if we just took a leap?

What if we just did the things that we really wanted to do—despite the rejection or scorn we might endure? What if we took a risk and put ourselves out there? What if we just walked confidently in the passions and gifts God has given us, trusting that ultimately He will lead and guide, instead of shrinking back in fear of doing the ‘wrong’ thing?

Can you believe that there might be more than one good option for you? Can you trust that God is still sovereign and if you’re living a life that’s honoring to Him that He will work all things out for the good of those who love Him?

Honestly?  That’s what this blog is for me.

It’s a risk.

It’s terrifying every time I post…which means it’s terrifying every day.

I don’t know where anything leads, or what the end goal is necessarily…but I believe this is a step.

Take a step toward your passions today. Do whatever it takes.

Don’t live life stuck in fear of getting it wrong or missing out.

The Lord has called you to great things.

Someone once told me to look at decisions like ice cream—you can choose vanilla, or chocolate, or bunny tracks—it’s all great but you get to choose.

Choose a great thing, out of a many great things!

So take that job, enroll in those classes, go on that trip, study abroad, work at summer camp J, foster that child, go hitchhiking across the country, pursue dancing or acting or singing or sports, move across the world, move to a new state…

And wherever you go, whatever you do—love God and love others. Walk boldly and faithfully in this, and believe that you’re really within His will, within His calling for your life. Perhaps you're doing exactly what you were made to do. 

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