Three questions to work out your calling in life
Working out your calling in life can feel like a pressing but also complicated issue. We don’t always get the clear leading we’re after, and there are all kinds of opinions out there about how we should figure out what to do with our lives.
Kevin DeYoung, an American pastor and author of Just Do Something, has written a helpful blog post on this for The Gospel Coalition, called ‘What is my calling? (And is that even a good question?)’. In it, he writes:
‘I do not see in Scripture where we are told to expect or look for a specific call to a specific task in life.
And that includes pastoral ministry and missionary service.
Although I’ve told the story of my “call to ministry” hundreds of times, I do not see biblical warrant for thinking that God picks up the phone in a special way to dial up pastors and missionaries for their life’s work. Moreover, I worry that by emphasizing the need for a supernatural hear-from-the-Lord call to ministry, we end up convincing some people that ministry and missions are for them (when they aren’t), while unintentionally leading other people (who should be serving a church or overseas) to conclude that they can’t sign up without a special word from God.’
Kevin suggests a more practical way forward when we’re wondering if we should do something. Ask yourself three questions:
Do I enjoy it?
Do other people say I’m good at it?
Is there an actual opportunity (for example, a job offer) for me to do it?
To find out more, read the whole post here.
Join us
If you want to learn more about finding your calling, we’d love to see you at NextGen North 2022: Where in the world do I fit?
We’re meeting on 26 February in Huddersfield, and will be hearing from some great speakers about how God has led them to serve in different areas.