4 Ways to Discover Your Calling in Life
Have you been thinking about how to discover your calling in life?
Most of us take a hard look at the idea of a calling at some point in our lives. Then we devise elaborate plans about which colleges will receive our applications, where we’ll find work, or how we’ll chase down our dreams.
What if we have it all wrong?
What if a calling isn’t about a job or degree? What if our callings are for today?
You Discover Your Calling by Beginning Right Here
Could it be that my calling is for today, not just for the future?
The Bible makes it clear that planning is wise, but amid our planning, our greatest focus is to be on how we live today: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:33-34).
Your calling is less complicated than you might imagine.
Your Calling is for Today
Jesus’ disciple, John, reminds us of our primary calling with these words: “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1 John 3:11).
With these things in mind, we have the assurance that determining a calling is not as difficult as we often make it out to be. Here are a few suggestions for anyone wrestling with a calling:
1. Discover your calling by loving the difficult people in your life today.
Extend grace.
Offer forgiveness.
Go out of your way to help the friend who rarely says thanks.
Be kind to the acquaintance whose moods change like shifting sands. Your calling is to love the people God places in front of you today.
As you do so, God will change your heart. He will begin to show you where your passions and talents can be used to help and love others. When your motivation is love, God will begin to make the path clear.
2. Discover your calling by paying attention to what makes you feel alive inside.
What do you love to do? Maybe you love to paint, organize, exercise, or cook.
Pay attention to what you love. Watch for the areas of your life that bring you a sense of fulfillment.
Then, ask God to show you how you might use these passions and talents to help others. Find this unique balance, and you might just find your calling.
3. You will discover your calling when you serve in the community where you live.
Along with planning for the next short-term family mission trip to an impoverished country (which can be a life-changing and God-honoring experience), or maybe even instead of planning for this kind of trip, begin by rolling up your sleeves and volunteering in your own community.
Give the gift of your time at the community food bank, soup kitchen, or homeless shelter. Visit a nursing home. Bake cookies for a lonely neighbor. Changing the world begins directly out of our backdoors.
4. Find your calling by bending lower.
F.B. Meyer said it well with these words: “I used to think God’s gifts were on shelves – one above another so that the taller we grow, the easier we can reach them. Now I find that God’s gifts are on shelves, one beneath another, and the lower we stoop, the more we get.”
You might feel called to greatness.
Never forget that God does the most powerful work in our hearts and lives when we are willing to humbly serve others. Look for opportunities to humble yourself and serve others, and God will make your calling clear.
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Your calling is for this very day. It’s an assignment to love those in front of you right now. Today’s assignment might feel small, but the visibility of an assignment isn’t an indication of its importance.
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