From God’s perspective, we all belong to the called. There is a purpose and a plan for your life. There is a reason that God placed you right where you are at this very moment. Our Lord is sovereign, and nothing happens by accident or by mistake.
Stop thinking of your calling as a suggestion but a commandment of God. “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29 NKJV).
Too often, we wait for the “big call” that God might have for us and, all the while, miss the daily call that He has on our lives. It is our pride that wants a call that will be noticed, and it is our pride that prevents God from trusting in us to do His daily will here on earth.
It doesn’t matter how big your calling is, but only that you do it. “As each one has received some spiritual gift, he should use it to serve others, like good managers of God’s many-sided grace” (1 Peter 4:10 CJB).
The little calls are not just a test before a big call, but rather they are the big call wrapped up in daily doses. Everyday God places before us choices in which we can be in His will or go off on our own. When we choose to be in His will, it will be there that we see His calling for that moment we are in.
You won’t get a specific calling until you start to live out the general calling. “For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness [to be dedicated, and set apart by behavior that pleases Him, whether in public or in private]. So whoever rejects and disregards this is not [merely] rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you [to dwell in you and empower you to overcome temptation]” (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 AMP).
The sign of a life who has lived the call is one in which they answered the call with every moment it was put before them. They align their lives to the will of God and wait expectantly for His next mission in which He would use them. The called are always listening.
The most significant thing you can do is in doing every small thing God calls you to do. “So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do” (2 Thessalonians 1:11 NLT).
To have a life living as the called, you must have a day in which it begins. A day that you stop waiting for the big plan that He would show you and step into His daily plan without knowing all that lies before you. He looks for those who trust Him with His plan without knowing it in its entirety.
The greatest thing you can do for God is to do whatever He calls you to do. “For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21 NLT).
Sometimes we think that we have ruined our chances with lost opportunities and failed missions from our past. But we are only putting our own idea of a lack of mercy onto our God, yet His mercy is endless. If you want to get His mercy, then all you have to do is ask for it.
Even in your mistakes, God can make something good happen. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 NKJV).
If you want to know what God wants you to do, then look at who He has placed around you. It may be that your mission is more practical than spiritual. Whatever your calling is, just let Him show you. You cannot help everybody, but you can help somebody.
If God has called you to do something, do it. “…Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 NKJV).
There will be some that God uses for a big calling as measured on the earth’s terms. But often, it will be the small calling that resulted in something bigger happening for another. Both are just as important on the terms of heaven for reaching the eternal plans designed by the Father.
The call of God is never dependent on the abilities of man but only on his willingness to serve. “For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12 NKJV).
You may know Martin Luther, who helped to start the Protestant faith. But do you know of Augustine of Hippo, from whose writings inspired Luther in his faith? Perhaps you know Augustine, but do you know Ambrose, who taught him? Or do you know Augustine’s mother, Monica, who chased after and prayed over Augustine when he was still living the life of a pagan? They were all part of God’s plan.
To reach a higher calling, you must have a lower position before God. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10 NKJV).
Whether you are called to pray or to write, to teach or to start a revolution, answer the call that God has for you. The way to say a big yes to heaven is to say many small yeses along the way. When God tells you to do something, do it.
You can’t walk in your calling if you don’t listen to God. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27 NKJV).
I pray that you will seek your calling and then step into it. Be all that God wants you to be. Don’t worry about how it can happen; if God has called you to something, then He will make a way. Don’t worry about the timing, for God already knows the day and the time for everything.
Blessings to you,
Paul Balius