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Four Myths You May Believe About Your Calling
As a Life Purpose Coach I believe that we are all called, have gifts and talents, and are incredibly loved by our Creator. Everything that we encounter in life prepares us for the next season in our calling.
I also believe that every one of our gifts are as important as the next persons. We are all working towards the same goals and each and every one of us are highly loved and valued by Jesus!
What I’ve discovered over the years is that many women have an incredibly difficult time discerning what that calling is. The trials of life and the many mixed or misunderstood messages they have heard from various teachers have left them feeling like they never measure up to what God has for them to do. For these struggling women, certain myths about calling are getting in the way of discovering what God truly has for them.
If you’re feeling lost trying to discern God’s calling for your life, consider these myths that may be tripping you up.
Myth #1: It’s About You
The process of discovering your calling may necessitate some serious self-reflection, but make no mistake: It’s not really about you. Calling is not about self-fulfillment. It is a discovery of your preciousness, your beauty, and your gifting…a plan set up for you from before you were born to fulfill… and the revealing of it is directly related to what you have experienced in your life through every trial and every experience, both positive and negative, to prepare and train you to be able to see others come to know who He is through your life.
Calling is a revealing and fulfillment of God’s will for your life.
Many people experience a special sense of satisfaction that comes from exercising their God-given gifts, talents, and passions, but that sense of fulfillment is a byproduct of being in God’s will, not the goal.
To discern what God’s will may be, you do need to look inward. You must seek to “know yourself” in order to discover God’s unique creation in you. Sometimes we can’t see outside of ourselves and being in community with other’s who know you can help to get a better picture. This is why we need each other.
And sometimes we miss the obvious– thinking it couldn’t possibly be important enough to be a calling. I have had women come to me in their season of child rearing, crying because they just don’t feel important to God because He has not revealed to them a calling. And there beside them stood their children.
Do you know raising children is one of the highest callings there is? To raise a child to love and honor God with their own lives is the calling of a Mother. Yes, one day those babies will be on their own and you will be free to pursue other gifts and callings, as each season of your life reveals more and prepares us for the next season.
Myth #2: If It’s Uncomfortable, It Can’t Be Your Calling
Nope, not even close. Figuring out your calling isn’t an instant ticket to a smooth life and career. As a matter of fact sometimes we get so stuck in our comfort zones of dysfunction, we would choose to stay there, because at least it is familiar, right?
Knowing what you are meant to be doing is really just the beginning of what may be a long and arduous journey of hardship and defeat. Some of the most successful, inspired people throughout history have pursuit of their paths that has included feeling like a failure….but rest assured,
Not one of your failures is wasted…it is all a part of the plan, and what makes the difference is that you
DON’T GIVE UP!!
For most of my life I struggled with what I was doing, even when I was very busy doing “the work of the Lord”, the way I saw it…
God is never finished with us and even while I was so busy, make no mistake, He continued to reveal to me those places I kept hidden that needed to be healed. I fell flat on my face many times.
I faced plenty of hardships and failures at work and in my personal life. These challenges helped me grow and learn more about God and more about how God created me to serve him, eventually leading me into Life Coaching much to my surprise. Now that I am a Life Coach and have been for many years, I continue to enter into places of so much pain I sometimes question where He is taking me now.
Your calling is most of the time a stretch assignment. Moses is a great biblical example:
He had no doubt about what God wanted him to do. God spoke to Moses through the burning bush, giving him clear marching orders about his next steps.
Isn’t this what we all kind of wish for when we’re searching for our calling?
But Moses’ calling didn’t sound all that great to him:
“But who am I that I should go?”
Moses questioned God, voicing the fear,
“I’m not important enough.”
But God answered, “I will be with you.” Then, Moses continued pressing back, asking, “What if they do not believe me?”
“I’m not impressive enough!”
In response, God provided him with miraculous signs. But it still wasn’t enough for Moses, who came back with the worry, “But I am slow of speech and tongue.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
God assured Moses that he would speak through him.
Moses was called to a task God designed for him, but it clearly didn’t feel good. He tried every way he could think of to convince God that he was the wrong man for the job, and then finally, when that didn’t work, he came right out and asked God to “please send someone else.”
Your discomfort doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re on the wrong path.
Myth #3: Choosing Wrong Can Thwart God’s Will
I know women (and men too) who seem to agonize endlessly over every major choice in their lives, calling included, because they’re afraid of choosing wrongly. It’s good to want to make the best choice you can, but at some point you just need to make a choice and go from there. If you find yourself worrying excessively about your calling, ask yourself whether this is really about discerning God’s will or whether you may be trying to control God’s will.
Your choices are important, but, when you are seeking Him with your whole heart, no choice you can make is outside of God’s sovereignty. Seriously… it is NOT that easy to miss God. Do you think He is not able to transcend your humanness, and lead you right into His perfect will…even when you think you are the one making the decisions?
If you had asked me 20 or 30 years ago where I would end up, I never would have foreseen the course my life would take. I now look back and am just amazed by God’s providence over all of it.
Myth #4: Your Calling Is Settled
Discovering your calling isn’t something you do once, or even twice. It’s not something you get to check off of a list and move on from.
The life of a Christian entails a constant process of discovering your calling. Just because God has called you to a particular purpose at a particular time doesn’t mean his plans for you are the same in every season… each season of our lives has a new calling that builds on the last one… nothing stays the same forever.
Looking back at my own life, I can see God shaping and shifting my calling over the years.
Each chapter of my life God continued to call and lead me through one season to the next. Some of the things that happened to me to bring me to this place today is astounding, painful, challenging, and sometimes unbelievable. In every phase my calling has looked and felt different, but God has been a consistent foundation throughout. And even when I was in total denial about my own issues that needed work, His will was accomplished in other’s lives through my calling. Astounding to me.
Who knows what the next chapter of life will bring?
Everyone’s calling is going to look different—and each season will bring a new process of discernment. Just remember, God is in control. He loves you and me, and his will for us will always bring us closer to him.
May you begin your discernment journey with courage and humility!