Understanding
God’s calling: How God leads us to our purposes
INTRODUCTION
Many of us in question about our purposes
in this life. We sometimes wonder about our purposes here on by asking
ourselves questions like how to know if it is God calling me? A believer should
ask these common questions himself to understand his purpose. The Bible shows
us that God calls ordinary people to fulfill huge purposes. Sometimes God calls
us in a clear and direct way and sometimes it takes a time to understand God’s
calling. However, here is one truth; God’s calling is not about the carrier or
the position. God’s calling is living according to his purpose and willing to
serve him in our lives. Understanding God’s calling requires being patient,
faithful and willing to trust him when the path seems to not be clear. God
calls us to open our mind and understand the spiritual truth. This is like an
invitation God gives us to gain the grace of salvation. The Bible explains that
God reveals through his word. The more we know him, the more we get used to his
word. The more time we interact with God, we come to understand our purposes in
our lives. To understand God’s calling requires us to live our entire life
including our carrier, success as result to God’s purpose.
Most
of the times, God calls ordinary people
One of the good thing in the Bible is that,
God does not care about our reputation or success. God does not call us because
we are powerful or we are perfect in what we do. Most of the times, God calls
ordinary people who are not even prepared for that. In Bible, God called
Abraham and changed his name from Abram to Abraham; meaning the father of many
nations. When God called Abraham, he was just an ordinary man. He was not
powerful or perfect but regardless everything, God choose him to be the father
of many nations. God did not call Moses to lead his people to the land of
promise because he was wise and confidence, he called him because he had a
purpose. In fact, when God called Moses, Moses even doubted himself and told
God that he wasn’t good a speaking but God told him that he is going to use him
as vessel to talk to Pharaoh. When God called David to be a king, it was not
because he saw him as powerful. He chose David because he had a purpose to
fulfill. David was a shepherd when he was anointed to a king. David was neither
powerful nor perfect but God had purpose for him and chose him. These powerful
examples show us that, God does not call us because we are wonderful in life.
God call us because he has a plan for us. When God calls us, he provides us with
strength and knowledge to fulfill that calling just as he did with Moses.
When
God’s calling feels uncomfortable
One of the important fact about God’s
calling is that sometimes it pushes us out of our comfort zone. When God called
Moses, he was afraid to go and direct speak to Pharaoh. When God called
Jeremiah, he felt like he was too young and lacked experience for that. Being
called by God costs us some sacrifices and sometimes it involves pain. But one
thing we need to understand is that God’s calling makes feel us uncomfortable. God
calls us to obey him and stick on our faith on him. And sometimes following God can be challenging. When God
called Jeremiah, Jeremiah felt like he was young to speak for God. But God told
him that he is going to guide him. God calls us because he know that we are
capable of fulfilling his purpose. Even we feel like we can not handle the
calling, God offers us the guidance to complete his calling. The bible tells us
that when people feel unqualified for the calling, God assists them for the
calling. When God called Moses, he was a just a normal man who looked after his
livestock. God called and he accepted the calling and the decision he made it
made him meet Pharaoh and flee his people from many years our slavery.
God’s
calling requires Faith
Sometimes God calls people before they know
the full purpose of the calling. Understanding God’s calling requires faith.
Faith is powerful weapon that keeps us going when the path of fulfilling our
purposes seems tough. By having faith, we do not need to know the whole plan of
the calling. If God shows us the whole plan, we might get tired and try to find
our own shortcut. Faith is about moving forward knowing that God has a plan not
by knowing the whole plan. Calling is not about finishing our tasks; it is
about building a strong relationship with God. If we have the ability to know
what is going to happen, depending on God will be hard for us. Faith keeps us
connecting to him and relying on him all the time. Most of the time God’s
calling requires us to do something which seems to be too big for us. Faith is
accepting that calling instead of thinking that we do not have enough power or
strength to do that and believing that God has power to make us fulfil the
calling. When God called Abraham, he did not have a detailed view for the plan
but he obeyed and followed. Faith allow us to accept the calling even if we are
not getting the purpose. God’s calling starts by obeying him and that obeying
him leads to something great.
God’s
calling is not only for great people
Sometimes, we think that God only calls
pastors, priests, missionaries or church leaders. But the Bible shows that
every believer has his or her purpose. The Bible tells us that we are created
to do good works that God has prepared for us. This means that God’s calling
may be in many forms:
1.
Serving others: Sometimes our
purposes might be serving others. God sometimes calls us to be inspiration to
others by sharing our ideas to inspire others. God might also call us to serve
him in churches, He might call us to spread his good news to other.
2.
Using our talents to help
others: God does not give us the talents so that we use them for our success.
Sometimes, God gives us the talents to use them to spread the good news but in
the opposite, we use them for our benefit. If God gave you a talent of singing,
use that talent praising him and spreading the good news to those who did not
get the ability to know Jesus.
3.
Showing kindness and
compassion: We can perform our purposes by spreading love and kindness. A good
Christian must be characterized with helping those in need. God’s calling is
not only about preaching or spreading the word of God. Showing kindness and compassion
can also be the way of accepting God’s calling.
4.
Sharing our faith with another:
Having faith in Jesus Christ is not only enough. Spreading our faith to other
who need it, is a perfect way of fulfilling our purpose. Jesus encourages to
spread his goodness to those who do not know him yet. To accept God’s calling
is to willing to spread our faith with others.
5.
Living with integrity: Living
our lives in an honest way and having strong moral values is the other form of
fulfilling our purpose. We cannot fulfill our purposes by lying or by having
power moral values. Accepting God’s calling requires us to live in a life full
of truth and moral principles.
God’s calling does not tie to serving him
only. It is how we live our lives for Jesus.
How
to recognize God’s calling?
Understanding or knowing God’s calling does
not happen instantly. It takes some time to understand God’s calling. Here are
some of the ways we can understand God’s calling;
1. Through Praying: Prayers allows us to communicate with God. It is like communicating
with a parents. When we pray, we seek God’s guidance . When we regularly pray,
we get to know his directions and path. Therefore, by praying, God reveals our
purposes to us.
2. Through our gifts and
talents: God often gives talents because he want us
to use these talents to fulfill our purposes. We do not understand why God
gives some gifts but in these talents, they are a reason behind and sometimes,
that reason is to fulfill our purposes
of calling.
3. Through opportunities: Sometimes, God opens some doors in our lives because of a reason.
God gives us some chances because he want us to serve him or spread our faith
to others. It is best to understand why God gives us some opportunities in
life.
4. Through Advices: Sometimes God uses other people to deliver his calling to us. By
the use of mentors, spiritual leaders or friends, these people can give us
advices and encouragement to help us understanding our callings.
Understanding God’s calling is not a not
time process, it is a continuous process.
Trusting
God when the path seems to be unclear
One of the hardest part of following God is
when we do not get the reason and we do not understand the purpose. There some
moments we feel like we do not have the vision for the future. And at this
moment, we start to doubt ourselves. What we have to understand, is that God’s
plan does not reveal directly. It takes time, faith and patience. Having faith
means trusting God in the moment we feel like we do not have the clear vision
of his plan. God knows the plan he has for us and those plan are not to torment
us but to give us peace and joy. Many Biblical figures trusted God when they
did not have the clear path for their future. When we trust God, he gives us
strength to perform our purposes in the right way.
CONCLUSION
The thing we have to correct in our minds
is, thinking that God’s calling only applies on church leaders, missionaries,
priests or pastors. God can call anyone. When God is choosing us, he does not
care about our backgrounds, he does not care about our education even he does
not care about our status. The Bible tells us that every believer must have a
purpose. We have seen that we are created to do God that God has prepared us to
do, that is every believer’s purpose. God does not call us because we are perfect.
God calls us because, we are willing to trust him and follow him. We saw some
of the Biblical figures who felt afraid, young and had no understanding but God
used them. He called them to fulfill the purpose. They trusted God and God did
not let them down. God showed them the way to follow so that they can perform
their purposes. Accepting God’s call does not mean that, we must have all the
answers and understanding. It means willing to follow the paths God is leading
us to. As Christians, we do not have to expect that God’s calling will come
with a clear sign. And we have to know how to respond to him when he calls us.
One of the important truth about accepting God’s calling is by having faith.
God is always doing what we cannot see with our own eyes. So trusting him gives
us guidance to fulfill our purposes. God’s calling reminds us that our lives
have more value than the success or worldly comfort. Fulfilling our purposes
does not mean chasing the success; it means how we live our lives and what
fruits we produce. It is important to understand that everyone’s calling is not
going to be the same. God calls us because he want us to go in a certain path
and that path is not going to be the same for everyone. When we choose to
listen to God, we came to understand our callings and this can be done through
prayers. So it is important for us to prioritize the prayer over anything.
Written
By
Heritier Cyuzuzo
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