What is God calling you to do?

Fulfilling My Calling

“Earlier in my life, I thought there was one particular thing I was supposed to do with my life.  I thought that God had a purpose for me and my main job was to discover what it was.”

                                  Barbara Brown Taylor

         I have had many jobs in my life.  Secretary, psychology assistant, program director, lab tech, teacher, Christian educator, massage therapist, counselor, writer, artist.  Like Barbara Brown Taylor, I kept thinking, “There is something I am supposed to do and somehow I’m not doing it.”  I begged God to reveal to me what my purpose was so I could get on with it.  And, I thought my calling must be my vocation--that I should work at a job that reflected God’s purpose for my life.

         Maybe I’m a little bit dense, but it was not until mid-life that I realized my calling and my job were not necessarily the same thing.  I could fulfill my calling and be a street-sweeper; I could be the best counselor in the world and miss the mark.  Calling is deeper than vocation, and it may never be clear to me what it is.  I just have to trust that if I pray for guidance, I am guided.  I decided that it was probably just as well to not know my calling because if I did, I would be so anxious and hell-bent on being the best at it, that I would ruin it all together.  My ego would step front and center and my calling would get lost in the process.  I could almost hear God saying, “It’s none of your business what I’m calling you to do.  Just go on and do your thing.”

         What seems important to me is that people bring a sense of purpose to their work no matter what they do.  I can’t say that I think arms dealers or drug cartel leaders are fulfilling their divine calling, but most of us ordinary folks bring our humanity to our work and fulfill our calling in ways that we don’t necessarily associate with God.  We listen, we help, we diaper, we feed, we give, we accept and we enjoy.  We provide life giving aide to others by conversation, interest, and shared experience.  Maybe that is all God is calling us to do.

                                   Keep the faith!

                                  Jane