On Life and Calling

Had a great breakfast date today with friends, Angela, Greg and Nicol. We got on to the topic of "calling".

For the last few years, Scott and I have been prayerful that the Lord will continually reveal to us what He's calling us to; That He'll be consistently clear what work He has for us to do in the advancement of His Kingdom. We have prayed that He will keep us ever mindful of His plan, and that He would help us to humbly follow Him wherever He will take us. Here are some things we have discovered:

- Sometimes the Lord calls by placing an undeniable compulsion within our hearts...a knowing and a need to pursue something.
- Sometimes God affirms this compulsion through other people who are prayerful, trustworthy and discerning.
- Sometimes God uses life circumstances to point in the direction He intends for us to go.
- Usually He is gracious to use a combination of these things...
- Sometimes the calling is not so clear.

- Sometimes His call is accompanied with an idea of what is to come.
- Sometimes God calls us to go without showing us the next step until much later.

- God seems to always prepare us for the next step before He reveals it to us.
- God creates us with the gifts, abilities and experiences designed to work at fulfilling His call.
- God's calling on our lives can NEVER be fulfilled with our gifts and abilities alone...We are to partner with His Spirit and His people, as He intertwines our lives and plans.

Pursuing a call of God is SO VERY different than pursuing a typical career. Decisions are not made based on worldly systems (likes/dislikes, comfort, status, climbed ladders, even living close to family). Decisions are made on knees, amidst tears and rumpled gilded pages, and they often fly in the face of convention. It is not without sacrifice. It is also not without immeasurable reward.

So...what is your God's call on your life. How have you discovered it? Are you willing to pursue it?