HOW TO WALK IN YOUR CALLING FROM GOD

Do you want to know how to walk in your calling?

Do you have passions but don’t know if they align with your purpose?

You’ve come to the right place, by the end of this blog post you will understand the purpose of a calling from God, how to know your calling and walk in it.

Let’s go!

What is a calling from God?

A calling is you being a part of the solution to a problem people are facing. God can use your gifts, skills, or character traits to support the call He has for you, even if you feel unqualified.

An example is Moses (Exodus 3). The problem was that God’s chosen people were taken captive by the Egyptians. So, God called Moses to use him as the solution to the problem by delivering them and bringing His chosen people to the Promised Land.

Although, Moses felt unqualified for the call because he had a speech problem God called Him anyway. Why? Because, even though Moses seemed to think that His speech problem was an issue that would get in the way to lead the Israelites, God saw a quality in him that was contrary to his belief.

Moses was born a Hebrew but raised as an Egyptian prince. He would be the well-suited person to be the mediator between both the Israelites and the Egyptians. This is something that he may have overlooked or seen as a hindrance but God saw it as a valuable quality to be used for what he was calling him to do.

The universal calling for all believers is the Great Commission which was the last thing command Jesus gave to His disciples before He was crucified, and that is to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). Disciple means a student, follower or learner in the Greek language. Therefore, a disciple of Jesus learns from Jesus to live like Him.

So, all in all, the purpose of your calling is to bring people to Jesus to make them followers of Him, and you can do this through a career, gift, skill, ability, or any type of resource. But, know that your calling goes beyond you, it serves a bigger purpose.

How to know your calling from God?

1. Hear the voice of God

To know your calling you must first hear the voice of God telling you what your calling is. But even more so than just hearing His voice, you must truly listen to His instructions of what He is commanding you to do.

When Samuel was called by God, he did not recognise the voice of God (1 Samuel 3). He heard God’s voice but did not have the discernment to recognise the voice of God, he mistook it as Eli’s. It wasn’t until Eli told him that it wasn’t him that was calling him but God, and that he should respond to God by saying, “Speak, for your servant is listening”.

God will give His instructions and you must learn to discern his voice and listen to what He is instructing you to do.

2. Be led by the Holy Spirit

To know your calling you must not be guided by your own desires and will, you must be led by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan before He began preaching the gospel (Matthew 4:1-11). He resisted all temptation from Satan through the power of the Holy Spirit and was able to start preaching in the full power of the Holy Spirit.

You may have to go through a wilderness season before you step into your calling. The wilderness season is part of your calling because it is preparation for your calling. The Holy Spirit will lead you to the wilderness season because He wants to prune, mould, refine and cultivate you and your gifts, skills, abilities, and character so that you are prepared and equipped for when you step into your calling.

Don’t dismiss the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit even if you don’t understand what is presently going on, He knows. So, lean on Him and not your own understanding and He will guide you on the right path (Proverbs 3:5-6), and He will be your Helper to fulfil God’s calling ( John 14:26) and to walk in it with the full power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).

3. Identify your passions and career path

To know your calling you must identify what God has already given you and ask Him if what you have and where you are at is connected to where He is calling you.

When the first disciples of Jesus were called; Simon (Peter), Andrew, James and John they were fishermen fishing for fish (Matthew 4:18-22). Jesus said something very profound when He called them, ‘”Come, and follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”‘

Their career was being fishermen but Jesus turned their career into a calling, they were to fish for people, which aligns with the universal calling; the Great Commission.

God can use your career, passions, gifts, or skills for the calling He has for you. It can be the stepping stone or path to you finding your calling.

You will have to drop your desires to take up and follow the desires He has for you. So, just because you have a passion for something, it does not automatically mean that God will use it for your calling. But in some cases, He may.

Ask God how they can be used for His kingdom and to fulfil His calling for you. Be willing to follow Him even when you are uncertain of where you are going.

For instance, before Paul was called, it is believed by some theologians that he was a Pharisee who had pharisaic training, and therefore, he would have known how to speak, read and write in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic (Acts 22:1-21). When Jesus called him, he could use the skills and knowledge he had in his pharisaic training to write letters to churches he had built in different languages teaching them the things of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In your career, God can help you identify the gifts, abilities, knowledge and skills you have that can be beneficial to use in your calling. Through that, God can mature what you have developed in your career to master it in your calling.

How to walk in your calling from God?

Matthew 25:14-30 which is the parable of the talents will be used as guidance and teaching on how you can walk into your calling from God. For context, a “talent” was a unit of money worth at least $1,200 in modern terms, and likely more. In the application of this parable, it is appropriate to see these talents as life resources such as time, money, abilities, giftings, and authority.

Before reading on, please read the parable to understand what I am about to teach.

1. Don’t compare yourself to others

The master (God) gave each servant (us) talents (resources) according to their ability. This means there is no need to compare yourself to others. God distributes resources fairly to what we are able to steward. So, don’t focus on what God has given to others, focus on how you will steward what He has given you.

Now, if you do not feel qualified for the calling, know that God has qualified you for it because He has given you everything that you need to fulfil the call. You are not in lack, you have everything you need, therefore, ask God for wisdom on how to steward the resources He has given you well, rather than comparing and complaining.

2. Use the resources God has given you

The servants with five and two talents directly put into action the resources that were given to them and multiplied them. They put their resources to use and they felt the responsibility of their assignment and went to work without delay.

However, the servant with one talent hid his resource in the ground. He did nothing with the resource that was given to him apart from ensuring that it was not lost but he was ultimately lazy. He did nothing positive with the resource given to him.

This shows that with the resources God gives you, you should put them to use. God is intentional with everything that He does and gives to us. So, everything that God gives you, from your abilities, traits, knowledge, money etc, there is a purpose behind why God gave it to you. It is your responsibility to do something with it.

We don’t see laziness as a real sin but it is to God and He condemns it. It is something that we should repent from if we notice that we are not utilising the resources God has freely given us. There were given to us with the purpose to be stewarded and fruitful. So, use the resources God has given you to fulfil the calling He has for you.

3. Be faithful

When the master came back He judged his servant individually according to what they have done with the talent He gave them. The servants with the five and two talents were rewarded for being “good and faithful” to what was given to them. However, the servant with the one talent was punished for being “wicked and lazy”.

This shows that God will only make fruitful that which you have been faithful to. God is not concerned about necessarily how much you make, but more so looking for the character quality of faithfulness with being responsible and stewarding the resources He gives you.

In the eyes of the Lord, faithfulness equals success. So, when you step out into what God has called you to, making the step and doing what God has instructed you He sees it as successful. However, when you do nothing because of fear of failing than having the proper fear or reverence for God that despite how you feel you will submit and trust God, that is unsuccessful and lazy in God’s eyes.

4. Acknowledge God

All of the servants had to give an account to the master of what they have done with the talents He had given them. The response of the steward with the one talent was believing that because the master was so powerful he, therefore, did not need his help, which was a wrong mindset to have. However, he did understand that what was given to him belonged to the master and not to him.

This shows and acts as a reminder that when you walk in your calling you should be ready to give account to Jesus of what you have done with the resources He has given us. Were you faithful in stewarding His resources?

Some think that readiness for Jesus’ return is a very spiritual and abstract thing. It really isn’t – it is a matter of being about our business for the Lord. In light of this parable, we must ask ourselves: What have we done with our knowledge? Our time? Our money? Our abilities? The sins of omission (what we don’t do) may ultimately be more dangerous than the sins of commission (what we do).

David Guzik – Enduring Word Commentator

Acknowledge God in everything that you do and when you do this you allow Him to direct your steps along the path He needs you to walk on to align with the calling and purpose He has for you.

So, now you know what is the purpose of a calling, how to know your calling and walk in it. Leave a comment about what takeaway you will apply today as you go after God’s calling upon your life.

Stay blessed,

Divine L.

Resources

• Enduring Word Commentary