Thursday, January 8, 2009

calling?

So it's been a while since i've posted one of these, so i dont know if anybody even looks at this anymore, but here we go anyways....

Calling is a word that's thrown around pretty commonly in the 'christian vocabulary.'
"God calls us to do ______"
"I feel called to ______ ministry"
But what does calling mean? What does calling look like?
Does God call us into specific things, like into a particular job or a particular ministry? Or is God's calling simply that we should follow him in whatever we do and let us fill in the details?

In the first instance, I've known a lot of people who have 'felt called into ministry' or 'called into the workforce.' I'm not trying to dispute what those people have felt, but i've never felt God telling me in some sort of prophetic manner what i'm supposed to do with my life. It would be a lot easier for me if He would just tell me what to do once i graduate, cause i'm lost. I dont feel 'called' to anything or anywhere in particular when i graduate, and that's how i've been feeling for the better part of a year now.

So that brings me to the second idea of calling, the idea that we are simply called to follow God in whatever profession we chose for ourselves, be it in the workforce, in the ministry, whatever. This idea resonates with me a little better, just because we are to be children of God first and foremost in whatever we do. However, that still doesn't help me figure out what i want to do when i graduate, but there is a difference in where each idea of calling puts me. Am i trying to figure out what i am supposed to do when i graduate, or do i have to figure out what i want to do when i graduate.

But i'm still not sure if there's something that i'm supposed to be doing, that i'm called to do. So as i continue to wrestle with this, any input would of course be helpful. Grace and peace.

2 comments:

roo said...

i came across this by accident, but here's my two cents:

i think there is a difference between wanting to do something and truly wanting to do something...one comes with a needy desperation while the other exists with a calm peace and acceptance that what you want is going to happen. i always take the latter as some indication of a higher guidance or direction.

there is a saying, "follow your bliss," i think that by listening to what gives us that kind of passion, and wholly excites us, we are perhaps as you put it, answering a calling. the quote actually has two parts, the second being: "when you follow your bliss... doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else."

i have found this to be true for me, and it has led me down paths where i would never have directed myself. it's kind of like the design process, you start the project, outline your intent and then move forward without knowing what the final product will be until you get there.

anyway, everything is crazy right now for everyone. no one is in a comfortable, knowing space, i'm just working on putting my intentions out there, following through on pursing worthwhile opportunities, and accepting that i just won't know until later.

so there you go.

Allen F. said...

I am right there with you bro