Romans 11:29 tells us that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. This almost sounds like once a gift is given or God has called you for something it cannot be undone. But what happens when you lose the will to fulfill your calling? What happens then?
What Is a Calling From God?
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Before you go any further, let’s establish what I mean by your calling. A calling is a strong urge or desire towards a particular way of life or career. It’s the inclination towards a particular vocation. We’re looking at this specifically as a God-given mission.
Typically when persons talk about calling they are referring to a life in ministry, usually pastoral ministry. But could a calling be something else? I think your calling is anything purpose that God has given you to accomplish.
What is Your God-given Purpose?
All believers have a God-given purpose. We are called to be separate, to be peculiar, and to shepherd people out of darkness into God’s marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). This is all well and good but how does that translate to one’s life’s vocation? The truth is it doesn’t. Now it may be true that God has given you a specific mission such as a call to serve as a nurse. But every situation in life is an opportunity to serve Him.
It doesn’t matter what we spend our time doing in terms of our jobs—we still have the chance to be witnesses and ministers of God.
Understanding Your Calling and Purpose
The key to understanding your calling and purpose is to evaluate your God-given passions. What are you naturally good at? What are you drawn to? In what areas do you excel without seeming to exhibit any—or much—effort? Could it be that God is calling you to be His missionary in that area?
Your God-given purpose can also exhibit itself in something that makes you uncomfortable. What is the thing that you would most rid the world of? What do you think will change the world? And no, I don’t want to hear world peace.
I want you to think about the cause that gets your heart beating a bit faster, the thing that makes you get out your soapbox and climb up. When you understand what those things are, you are going in the direction which will allow you to fulfill God’s calling on your life.
Losing the Will to Fulfill Your Calling
But what happens when you no longer want to fulfill your calling? Life can sometimes get us down. It batters at us and wears away our resolve and determination. We find ourselves losing the passion to do the things we know we’re called to do.
We lose the heart for our assignment. we lose the desire to fulfill our calling. If that’s you, I want to encourage you to hold on.
There are times when I want to give up and stop doing what I believe—know—God has called me to do. It’s hard–much harder than I thought it would be. And the results aren’t what I expected.
I feel inefficient, insignificant, and invisible. I want to throw in the towel and bury my head in the sand (and yes, I know I’m mixing metaphors)…it’s always at that moment that I hear a still, small voice:
Do not be weary of doing good (Galatians 6:9).
I’m reminded of the anchor verse for this site: let us run with endurance the race set before us laying aside every weight and looking to Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2). My friend, the race is not for the swift but for he who endures to the end.
Do not become weary of doing good and that includes fulfilling the calling God has on your life. #fulfillyourcalling #hebrews12endurance Click To TweetYou may have lost the will but God has given you the ability to fulfill your calling. You can fulfill your God-given purpose when you learn to depend solely on Him and give your will to Him.
A word of caution though, my friend. Be careful not to use the purpose God has given you as an excuse not to make connections with people in your life. God desires our dedication and our focus, but He also created us as relational beings.
That means we need to make connections here on earth. Do not use your calling as an excuse to shut others out. After all, if you are shunning people how are you going to be a witness to them? If you won’t form relationships, how will you learn to esteem other people better than yourself (Philippians 2:3)?
What the Bible Says About Purpose and Endurance
God has a plan for every person He has created. That’s why you have this sense of being created for something greater. It’s the pulse of your God-given purpose. The Bible offers us encouragement as we strive to meet our purpose. I hope these verses will encourage you when you feel like giving up on your purpose.
Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful (James 5:11 ESV).
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4 ESV).
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28 ESV).
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Romans 12:1 ESV).
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:7 ESV)
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him (Colossians 1:16 NIV).
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it (1 Corinthians 9:24 ESV).
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10 ESV).
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5 ESV).
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14 NIV).
The LORD works out everything to its proper end— even the wicked for a day of disaster (Proverbs 16:4 NIV).
Review of Fatal Memories
Dylan Murphy had a mission. It was his God-given purpose, the vocation God had given him as his life’s work. He was passionate about busting up gangs so he could stop the flow of drugs and he was good at it. But what happens when God puts him in juxtaposition with someone who threatens his ability to fulfill his mission?
Jocelyn Walker knew something important but couldn’t remember what it was. That’s the premise of Fatal Memories and it’s one that had her wrestling with what little she knew in light of the evidence against her.
Know God: so, okay, there weren’t a lot of references to God but Jocelyn had to realize that she was not in control of her circumstances, and focusing on them only brought agitation. Like Jocelyn, the situations we experience in life will frustrate anger, agitate, and scare us.
But we have the choice to focus on Someone who is infinitely more powerful than we are. When we focus on God, our problems recede to their proper place and we are able to worship and give thanks in spite of what we’re going through. It is this knowledge of God that helps us to fulfill our calling.
Time spent with God can help us fulfill our calling. #fulfillyourcalling #hebrews12endurance Click To TweetKnow yourself: Jocelyn literally had to get to know herself during the course of this book. While it’s not something that usually happens, it’s a reminder that sometimes we change. As we respond to the events which happen in our lives and the people we meet, we will change and grow. Also, as children of God, we should grow spiritually as we spend time in God’s presence.
Run your race: Jocelyn reminded us that even though life may not be going the way we want it to, we still have to continue moving forward. As the author of Hebrews said, we must run the race set before us with endurance looking ahead to the reward and shaking off the things that would bog us down (Hebrews 12:1-2).
I love it when books teach life lessons. Both Jocelyn and Dylan had to do some introspection to figure out what their God-given purposes were–and align them with the desires of their hearts. It was a reminder to me that while I needed to fulfill my purpose, I had to balance it against being present to the people God has put in my life.
About Fatal Memories
She was framed! Or was she?
If only she could remember…
Border patrol agent Jocelyn Walker has no memory of how she turned up unconscious with a cache of drugs—or why a gang is dead set on killing her. With evidence stacking up against her, Joss takes refuge with driven DEA agent Dylan Murphy, who guards—and suspects—her. But will finally trusting each other lead them into a trap they’ll never escape.
I received an advanced readers copy from Celebrate Lit; a positive review was not required.
About Tanya Stowe
Tanya Stowe is a Christian Fiction author with an unexpected edge. She is married to the love of her life, her high school sweetheart. They have four children and twenty-one grandchildren, a true adventure. She fills her books with the unusual…mysteries and exotic travel, even a murder or two.
No matter where Tanya takes you…on a trip to foreign lands or a suspenseful journey packed with danger…be prepared for the extraordinary.
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