Psst: God's Calling

You have to love music more than you do food. More than life.

August Rush, 2007

unless it comes out of

your soul like a rocket,

unless being still would

drive you to madness or

suicide or murder,

don't do it.

unless the sun inside you is

burning your gut,

don't do it.

--Charles Bukowski (On Being a Writer)  

These are the words of men who understand the nature of their calling and gifting. Being who I am and seeing what I see, I am propelled forward, my calling is my meat and drink, and the sun of my vision is burning my gut. I have found my reason for being here and believe-you-me I am going to Be That Reason.

But what about you? You love God, love your family and friends, seek to do good work, but when you meet men and women who’s calling comes out of their souls like a rocket, you wonder if there is something wrong with you, as you have no such focused passion, do not feel connected to any Reason for Your Existence. This is a complex issue, for sure, but there are three things I think are important for us to get our heads and hearts around, here. There is a reason for your being here; discovering that reason rarely comes in a single burst of insight; and in every situation you find yourself, the loving God is continually seeking to awaken you.

God created you to be you and “do” you. While we can gain insights and wisdom from the lives of others, we are always Other Than. At the end of time, God isn’t going to ask you why you were not St Paul or Mother Teresa, Michelangelo or Steve Jobs: He is going to ask why you weren’t you. Being a unique individual, both your existence and your reason for being here are unique. Discovering your reason (calling) is ultimately birthed from looking to your Creator and looking within, not at the lives and deeds of other people.

As I pointed out in my book, Legendary Leadership, most of us will never have a Damascus Road experience where a blinding light and voice from above show us the road we are to take and the reason for taking it. Callings are usually gradual dawning’s of awareness where, over time and with halting steps, we find our way. Some have that Ah-ha moment at 30, some at 50, and some, at the end of their days, look back and see, “So, that was my reason.” Yeah. I know. This last one is weird and counter-intuitive. How can you be and do, if at some point you don’t see and hear? But what if all those side roads and detours and switchbacks were God’s path for you? Come on: if you knew the destination, you would have logged into Google maps and found the shortest route and avoided all the roads that were actually leading you toward and preparing you for God’s intention for your life, right?

Right now, in this moment, in every situation and event you find yourself, God is seeking to awaken your mind and heart.  As you reflect on your life’s circumstances, realize that within it all there are seeds of Truth for you: seeds that can grow into wisdom for your life and calling or seeds that will fall by the roadside, because your heart wasn’t receptive. And here lies one of the chief barriers for discovering God’s intention for our lives: our hearts are hardened by fear. Having little faith in the God of Love, we fear the unknown. We fear losing the identity we have created for our false self and to which we have become so attached. Finding God’s seeds of Truth in our life’s circumstances requires a willingness to let go of lies we proclaim as truth, masks we were never meant to wear, and for seeing paths we have willfully ignored. Have courage: He isn’t seeking to lead you to destruction, but toward what St John referred to as “abundant life.”

God’s love for you is infinitely more than you could ever hope. Because of this love, He is and always will be seeking your good, seeking to awaken the real you so that you can do what He called you to. Holding on to faith, hope, and love, is the only way to remaining receptive and malleable, open to the often faint but always clear voice of God who is saying, “This is your path to becoming yourself and realizing My intention for your life.”

Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2013