Discovering Your True Calling in Christ

Destiny. Calling. Purpose. These words have long stuck a deep chord with me and I know they resonate with many – if not every person on this planet.

But as much as we want to be living in this reality we see as the answer for ultimate fulfillment, it often feels like a mirage. We can never seem to quite get there. Purpose eludes us.

But please believe me when I tell you that when we are trying to find our calling, we’re usually looking in the wrong place. We should be diving deeper in Christ, and not in ourselves. Truly. Who you are is not somehow separate from who He is. You express a unique facet of His character, and He will draw that out of you as you draw nearer to Him.

This C.S. Lewis quote comes to mind:

“As long as your own personality is what you are bothering about you are not going to Him at all. The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether. Your real, new self… will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him.“

This is no longer just conceptual for me. I have seen puzzle pieces of my life that I could never reconcile on my own, put together by Him when I’ve taken my focus off of figuring out my life and just focused on Him. He desires for me to be fulfilled more than I even do. He desires this for you too.

The key is to seek Him first, be present and at rest, and recognize that you are found in Him.

Seek Him first… 

When I’ve heard that in the past, it has felt like a cliché or useless answer. I would just think “well, I am pursuing Him, so I’m good.” I viewed it almost like multitasking. I’m seeking Him and He’s most important. Check. Meanwhile I want to look at what I’m good at and figure out where I’m supposed to be.

I don’t know about you, but that is a huge stumbling block for me. I can’t seem to get past the idea that I need to “figure out” my life or my calling (or any vast number of things, if I’m being honest!).

But get this: calling denotes a caller. It’s relational. So sure, ask Him about it. Let yourself dream with Him. Just remember that he’s thoroughly pleased with you no matter what you do or don’t “accomplish” for the kingdom.

Let Him birth passions in you as a natural outflow of your time with Him, looking upward instead of inward. He knows you in your inmost being (Ps. 139). Trust Him to gradually unfold His plans for You and to give you passion and purpose even in the seemingly mundane, as you walk through life with Him.

Be present and at rest…

When you think of what you might be “called” to do or to be, are you thinking about things you might do for him or with him? Be careful not to jump to the excuse “he’s always with me.” Yes, that’s true, but to what extent are you trying to be 10 steps ahead when God is the God of the right now?

Rock climbing lesson – the story

When I was in my early years of high school, I went to a summer camp with my best friend that had a “high adventure” theme. Now as much as I consider myself to have an adventurous spirit, I am not remotely what one might call an “adrenaline junkie.”

So here I was, in the (in my view) pitiable circumstance of having to “at least try” rock climbing.

I actually had “rock climbed” at a gym before. It was a short wall that had those plastic handholds and an automatic belay system (there may be a different term for it – basically there was never any “slack” in the rope because it retracted at the top of the wall).

I really enjoyed that. But it was easy. This was not.

First of all, the seconds it took for the belayer to tighten the slack when I advanced a step up the rock was pure torture. Second, there were no colorful hand or footholds here to guide my way.

But a really cool thing happened that day. God used this experience as an object lesson that has continued to speak to me in the years since:

I was under no obligation to reach the top. All I had to do was “try it.” But despite the fear and the utter weakness I felt, I refused to quit. However – I absolutely could not have done it on my own.

Remember the lack of colorful handholds? Yeah. On my own I had no clue where to go.

My belayer was on the ground, and there was another leader at the top, and they would literally tell me: “Ok, now I want you to take your right hand, and you see that protrusion up to the right? I want you to boost yourself with your right leg, and grab it with your right hand.”

With that step-by-step guidance, eventually, painstakingly, I made it to the top.

The lesson that day

While I was getting there, I felt God speak to me that the way I’ve always wanted to approach life is to have my way clear and completely mapped out. I want the 10-step plan at my fingertips. But here’s the thing: when that’s the case, I forget my need for Him and I refuse to trust Him with the process and accept that He wants to lead me.

It has been a long journey since that day, and I’ve continued to look back at that lesson as a reminder of how God wants to work in my life: one step at a time. But it’s more than that.

Enjoying the ride (what I’ve learned since)

In more recent years, I’ve come to see that it’s not that He wants me weak and dependent on him, desperate for the next step. He wants me to enjoy each step with Him. Enjoy the revealing. Relish freedom, knowing that I am safe in His arms. Savor the moment.

It’s so tempting to treat life like reading a novel – always in a hurry to get to the “good parts.” Always wanting to know the ending.

But it’s in the process that we become who we were meant to be, shaped by each moment that we make a choice. Both good and bad. Those decision points are the embodiment of the now. Just as you are choosing to read this right now.

Will this decision shape you? I don’t know. But I do know that as you invite Holy Spirit into each moment – each decision – whether large or small, you will be molded more and more into His image and likeness.

The small decisions we make every day are cumulatively what make up most of our lives.

So by all means, think about your future. Think about what He might be calling You toward. But don’t despise the day of small beginnings (Zech. 4:10), and don’t forget that He is the caller and the ultimate call is toward Him. He’ll get you “there” (wherever that may be), and as you enjoy the journey in the present, with him, it will unfold that much more beautifully and completely.

We are found in Him…

One last encouragement: as you seek Him first and choose to let go of the “plan” in favor of the present, be assured that your “destiny” is not some fragile or ambiguous thing that you need to nurture or manifest into reality.

What I’ve been trying to communicate is that God knows you better than you know yourself and He knows how to get you where He would have you go. He wants to be with you along the way and He wants you to trust the process.

I’ll share some more of that C.S. Lewis passage I started at the beginning of the post (because it’s just so good):

Give up your self, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.

Sound harsh? Check your heart – what are you believing about God and what He’s asking of you? This “death” is the choice of letting go of our need to feel in control or to know what’s next or to make our dreams into reality.

I don’t necessarily like the phrasing “submit to death.” Let’s just say submit to Christ. Put everything your heart is holding onto at His feet and watch Him resurrect the parts that are from Him, but in pure form, free from manipulation, expectation, fear, and control.

Finding fulfillment

To be clear: I love when I feel like I’m operating in who I was created to be and what I was created to do. I love feeling seen, valued, and understood as the real me. But no matter how hard I might try to attain or maintain that feeling, I can never do it so well as my Creator, the lover of my soul. He knows me intimately. My God knows what will fulfill me. 

He knows what will fulfill you. He created you to be fulfilled, and that place of fulfillment will always be found in Him. He’s not the opening act; He’s the main event. Do you not believe that the limitless reality of who He is can be infinitely, creatively, and uniquely expressed in and through you? You are not lost in Him – lost in a homogenous mass. You are found in Him. That is your journey and calling. Dive in and watch it manifest in the unique expression of who He created you to be. You don’t need to figure it out. He’s got this.

To summarize…

If you are wanting to know your calling in Christ, remember that a call is relational. The highest call is toward Him. So seek Him first. Not just as “prioritization,” but as the source of the call.

When you do that, stay there. Be present with Him. Let Him reveal each next step how He loves to do, and enjoy that journey of discovery like a romance. He’s not withholding. He’s inviting.

And finally, trust that this is literally how you will find fulfillment and purpose. You are not lost in Him, but rather found in Him. And whatever you surrender to Him, and even whatever you lose, will be redeemed overwhelmingly.

“So above all, constantly seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness, then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly. Refuse to worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself.”

– Matthew 6:33-34