Finding your calling is one of the most common themes, memes and topics du jour on the blog sphere. I suspect it’s because everyone wants to feel like they’re valued and to have a purpose means you are valuable. I have personally struggled with the prospect of not knowing my calling and purpose off and on for most of my life. The details of that are written about at length in Listen Up, Kids, so I won’t dig into it here.
I bring up the concept of finding your calling because of how it relates to the current topic in our Year of Listening Up series. This month has been about knowing and understanding that God has qualified us to take the field in his name (Colossians 1:12). Today, we round out the discussion by asking “what exactly is the field to which I belong?”
What Field Should I Search for My Calling?
In one chapter of Listen Up, Kids, I talk about the desperation I experienced while feeling like I was qualified and ready to be fulfilling a divine calling but having no clue how to identify that calling.
I compare that feeling to being a lawn tractor that’s all filled with gas and fully powered but lacking a blade to do what I was designed and built to do. In this post, I am expanding upon that sentiment and will surely refer back to it when we do our month of Growing Where You Are Planted. You see, something I’ve learned is that my feeling of desperation stemmed from a belief that I was “stuck” in some way, which was the result of ambiguity toward identifying my calling.
When our calling – our very purpose for being – goes unknown, it’s stressing and maddening. A rekindling of the basics of serving God and following Jesus is the perfect remedy for getting back on track.
When Your Calling is Ambiguous, Go Back to Basics
My general nature when It comes to projects is to visualize where I need to go and then map out all the steps to get there after assessing where I’m at in that present time. That’s well and good, but what if you don’t know the end goal? A map is only worthwhile if you know where you are going, right?
If you can’t visualize that end goal, you’re adrift in ambiguity. For some people, that’s okay. I call them the “just get in and drive people.” They seem to thrive on the freedom and flexibility in not knowing their every next step. I am not a just get in and drive person. I am a “let’s chart the perfect course first” person. For me, ambiguity is maddening. Not just maddening in an anger sense, but also in an insanity sense.
So how do I overcome that ambiguity to keep myself sane? I go back to basics much in the same way a baseball manager might try to get a team out of a slump by focusing on fundamental concepts of fielding and batting. See the ball and hit the ball.
It is the very same concept Vince Lombardi deployed in his famous 1961 Green Bay Packers training speech that began with “Men, this is a football.” Surely they knew it was a football, but it was a very simple call on Lombardi’s behalf to get his team to put aside all the other clutter, crap, junk and noise that enters into the mix so they could focus on the very thing that is their man reason for being on the field.
We too have a reason for being on the field. It’s the same for us all.
What is Everyone’s Basic Calling?
You may or may not be familiar with the Westminster Confession of Faith, which responds to the question of “What’s the chief end of man” by stating “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” This premise is, in fact, one of the foundational revelations that led me to launch 1Glories.
For scriptural support of that assertion, I really encourage you to meditate on Psalm 86, Isaiah 60:21, 1 Corinthians 6:20 and 1 Corinthians 10:31 as well as Revelation 4:11. If you are like me, though, and you like to get right to the point, Romans 11:36 sums it all up pretty well:
In other words, God is everything. We exist because of him and for him. We are to serve him. I like how Tim Challies explains our calling/purpose with this question and answer in context:
Our primary responsibility is to ensure that we are bringing glory to God through our lives as we use the gifts and talents God has given us and that we constantly submit our time and our talents to Him.
So, if we are getting back to the basics, we are to bring glory to our maker (sort of like honoring your father) by living lives as commanded. And we can do that on whatever field we are currently on. Centerfield is still a centerfield whether you’re playing at Wrigley Field or Yankee Stadium. A football is still a football wether you are in Green Bay or Tampa Bay.
Get Your Calling Out of Neutral
If you are like I was – like a lawn tractor that’s ready to get to work but you have no blade – consider your talents and where you are in your season of life. Perhaps there isn’t even grass available to cut at that time. Maybe it’s the middle of winter and you’re equipped with a small plow on the front. Get to work clearing the driveways. Or maybe it’s autumn and you have a wagon hitched to the back. Start hauling rocks or fallen tree limbs.
Or maybe it’s spring time and the kids just want to take a ride around the yard. Tell them to hop on board and love the work that you are called to do in that very moment.
Yes, you belong on the field. Get out there and let’s get to work!