How Do I Know What My Calling Is?

I’ve heard many people talk about calling as that ONE ELUSIVE THING that unless they find it, they’re cursed to wander the earth in misery until they die. They sweat and fret to find THE ONE THING.
I’ve certainly thought of “calling” that way before. But I think of calling differently now.
I see it more fluid than fixed and more general than specific. I think of calling more as a category than a singular action. At the heart, calling is really about living in the center of the Father’s will for your life.
For example, at one stage of her life, my friend Pat served Native Americans on poverty-stricken reservations. Then she helped volcano victims to recover. And later she started schools in the Philippines. Pat did all these things and through all of them, she was living out her calling.
The key to knowing your calling is sticking close to your Heavenly Father and responding in obedience when he calls. How do you know when God is calling? In the Bible, Samuel didn’t know the LORD was calling until the priest Eli pointed it out (1 Samuel 3). Samuel needed some help.
As I myself have wrestled with calling, I’ve found six areas that often point to calling.

God’s Voice

Jeremiah and Samuel both heard God speak to them clearly about their calling. It may not be the same for you, and that’s okay. The living God has lots of ways to speak. In a way, each of the following areas is a means for God to get his message across. I encourage you to listen to all of them.

Talents and Strengths

In Living Your Strengths, Al Winseman and Curt Liesveld wrote, “Your calling is what God wants you to do with your life; your talents and strengths determine how you will get it done.” As I shared in 7 Kinds of Strengths Within You, you’ve got all kinds of strengths. Each is a clue to the Designer’s Intent.

Passion and Engagement

What fires you up? What do you feel connected to? What has your attention? What do you have to keep doing, so that if you stopped doing it, you would shrivel? What do you lose a sense of time doing? What would you spend your money on if it was endless? These are all signs of passion and engagement, which indicate calling.

“I Was Made for This”

In certain moments, you have a sense of, “I was made for this.” You know what I mean, those moments in which you feel fully alive, when your blood and bones seem to be crying out in agreement, and you feel you have tapped into something primal and essential to who you are.

Witness of Others

Sometimes calling is right under your nose, you just don’t see it. Like Samuel, listen to the community around you. They have a unique perspective on your life that you don’t have. Calling out calling when we see it is a sacred role we can play for each other.

Remarkable Results

If your calling is what God wants you to do with your life, your calling will bear remarkable results. What are you producing? What are the outcomes of your life? What will people miss if you stop delivering it? Consistent, good fruit often leads back to calling.
Like Samuel, keep listening for the Father’s voice. God wants to reveal your calling more than you want to find it. A heck of a lot more. So lean in and listen with your blood and bones to what the voice is saying.
 

Align Your Life

Would you like greater clarity on living your best life ever. Download the FREE Align Your Life Inventory: A Quick Check-Up With God here: Align Your Life http://professionalchristiancoachingtoday.com/inventory.