We all have heard people talking about finding their calling.  Many people are spending their life trying to search for the calling they have and a lot of times it is their career choices.  I know I have been down this path quite a bit in recent years, myself.  There often comes that point in your life where you find that this is just not me.  I am not where I know I should be.  This is not my calling.  So when those moments of realization happen a number of different things happen.  The individual can leave what they’re doing and jump into something that speaks to them in that moment.  They can just accept the security they are in, whether it’s life sucking or not and just deal with their circumstances.  They can seek God and see where He leads them.  Follow me here.

God is calling all of us into something bigger than ourselves.  He is calling us to a larger story.  The problem is that too many people themselves chasing their calling first.  They see the next new thing to jump at, a lot of times, it is with career choices, and just make the leap.  Only problem is, later on they find it was a mistake and move on to the next or they just don’t have the commitment to stick with their choices and jump around never fully finding their full calling in life.

On the flip side, many people, and I have been in this boat myself, find that they are just unwilling to accept any risk in life and enjoy the benefits of security in working in that stable corporate environment or just meaningless work. They accept the hand that the world’s dealt to them and where the world told them they should be.  This circumstance will often times suck the life right out of someone.  They find themselves isolated.  They are miserable in what they do even though they are good at it.  Even if they are not miserable, they just accept the ride. I know I’m not the only one here.

So what to do instead?  We feel called, but we don’t know what to.  Here’s the plain solution.  Seek God first.  Don’t chase a calling, chase God.  Seek Him everyday in prayer on your own.  Find time to just get by yourself in silence and just talk to Him.  Ask Him where He wants you go.  Ask Him what assignments He has for you.  Give Him all glory and honor no matter where you are in life.  You seek Him first and watch Him work.  He will move you in incredible ways and bring you to what it is that will make your soul just come alive.  Let God guide you first and reveal that calling to you.  I’ve been growing tremendously in my spiritual and prayer life and seeking where God wants me to be and it is absolutely amazing to see Him responding.  He’s transforming my heart and moving me to something new.

Now that does not mean we all just need to quit what we’re doing today.  For many, God may want you right where you are.  For others, He may be wanting you to move.  He may want you to take risks.  He led many people through scripture along through risky situations, but it was all for His glory.  Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, and of course Jesus.  All of their situations involved risk, but they sought God through it all and wanted to carry out His will.  We’ve also seen the peril of what will happen when God was not chosen first and being passive sets in.  The fall of creation was due to Adam sitting idle and choosing Eve over God.  He was right their by Eve, and allowed her to sin and then made the choice to follow suit.

We have to be willing to take that risk in our lives.  If you feel that God is ready to move you, don’t sit idle and not act.  Be conscious about what He’s telling you. Continue to seek His council through it and also seek the council of people you trust to be honest with you about it.  When God reveals this calling to you and you act, you will come alive like never before.  Chase and choose God first, not calling and then watch Him work in your life and around you in His larger story.