Sometimes, you just need to move on no matter how you’ve hurt within. Keep moving and keep running the race.
The race of life is not for the faint-hearted. There are times I question myself if I’m doing the right thing. Why I’m doing that?
Because there are people who won’t believe you no matter what you say.
You will have friends that will not run with you when you are pursuing your calling.
Sometimes you have to walk alone. Walk alone having the faith in God that you will get through.
But walking alone could be a dangerous thing. You might fall into the hands of the prey, it’s risky.
Walk alone not to achieve your dreams on your own. Walk alone so you can find the community of people who walk the same path as you are.
Walk, with the expectation of failing. Fail fast, fail often, but get up quickly.
Be bad at things. Be embarrassed. Be afraid. Be vulnerable. Open yourself. There are many people waiting for you.
To hear how you turn your mess into a message.
To hear how you turn your test into a testimony.
To hear how you turn your failure into success.
Don’t be afraid to fail. Embrace it. The louder you fail, the clearer your future becomes. You need not see the whole picture, you need to take the first step and leave everything to God.
There are people who spend their whole lives wondering how they became the people they became and regret it, how certain opportunities passed them by, why they didn’t take the road less traveled. You do not belong to them.
Transformation can be both exciting and terrifying but I promise you it will be worth it.
Embrace the new person you’re becoming. This is your moment. I promise you; it is now or never, not two minutes from now, not tomorrow, not next year but now. Own that; know deep in your bones, and go to sleep every night knowing it, and, wake up every morning remembering that and fight for it.
It’s been a few days ago the last time I am compelled to write about calling. Why? Because most people don’t know if they are on the right track, and that’s okay.
We are living now in an information age wherein, more and more people have started finding their calling in so many different ways. Some are looking for it by living in another country or exploring things that they haven’t tried yet and most people end up empty, living anxiously how they could live a better life and wishing if they only knew their calling, they would not end up disappointed.
I was in the same situation two years ago.
I wanted to become successful in any way I can with my own might.
Have attended different seminars that tackled about finance and entrepreneurship.
Have tried to start a personal finance blog and the last thing I did was to apply to become an insurance advisor that I ended up resigning from it because I find it really hard at least for me to achieve the success I want in life.
I ventured into many things yet I have found myself in the same place, paralyzed by uncertainty and fear.
Those moments triggered me to ask God: why for some people, it is easy for them to find their calling, and others are not? If you are like me, have you ever asked yourself or other people why you’re calling seems unclear?
Let me share it with you the three lessons I’ve learned throughout the process of finding my calling. This could help you to understand why a calling is never clear.
1. When you’re calling is not clear, you’re on the right track.
“I have never had clarity. I have only ever had trust.” —Mother Teresa
A calling is never clear, there are times I seek God in which direction He wants me to take but He often wants me to move first. It helped me to understand, that when you want to know where you are called at, don’t wait for clarity.
In reading the Bible from cover to cover for years, I never encountered a man or a woman that was called by God having a clear instructions from Him where they should go or what they should do. God never gave them an accurate assignment or an accurate place. Like for example, Abraham. When He was called by God to go the Promise Land, God never told him where it is on the map, or even tell him if there is a hotel or a shelter he and his family can live there.
Abraham, wasn’t clear as well, what God wanted Him to do. He didn’t know how he will be the father of many nations. Like for Moses, God gave him the order to free His people out of slavery in Egypt but God never told him if he will have an army or weapon that can help him to fulfill the task. In the end, both of them found their calling. They both fulfilled the assignment that God gave to them. They might confuse the first time they received the assignment yet they trust in God during the process.
2. Clarity comes only when we take action.
We don’t often know what we should be doing until we start doing it.
When God called Moses to a great task, he actually doesn’t know what to do. He told God also that he can’t speak on behalf of Him in the congregation of Israel because his lips are faltering. How would Moses lead the people of Israel to the Promise Land if he is unskillful and totally clueless on what to do?
What Moses did? He just started to take action and obey everything God will be saying to him. Though he doubted his own capability at first, but in the end, he trusted God in the process. Throughout the history in Exodus, Moses was able to lead not just thousands but ten thousands of people and able to raise up leaders just like him.
How was he able to do that? He just started doing it. His experience leads him to become a competent leader and that gives him the confidence to lead the Israelites all of his life.
Trusting in the process means taking action even you are totally clueless about it. When in doubt commit.
I never dreamed about being a writer or to become an author when I was young. and then one day, I just tried to write what was in my head. Today, I love sharing my thoughts and experiences through writing.
A calling is a sum total of a person’s life’s experiences, skills and passions that all put to work.
3. Just because it is hard, doesn’t mean you should quit.
“We are what we repeatedly do.” — Aristotle
While many people have started following their passion, from my own experience, it was the most painful and risky thing to do. Many people think they have the passion for something and when the going gets tough, they easily quit.
My commitment was never built overnight. There are nights, I am almost sleepless. One thing that helped me a lot to build my commitment is being accountable. The time I volunteered in the ministry, joined a small group in our church, and started leading one, I have gone through difficult times of maintaining my commitment and consistency.
And I believe, one of the reasons why some people are not successful because they don’t follow their commitments. They never fight for it. I’ve seen many of them started having a passion and end up quitting and isolating themselves in the end.
That’s why passion and desire are not enough. You need to learn to follow your commitments.
Let your passion follow you instead of you following it. What we need is a kind of practice that demands our total presence and a serious attitude to achieve what we want in life.
We are what we repeatedly do. If you want to become good at something, commit to it seriously.
In the end, discovering what you were meant to do and meant to be, requires action and commitment.
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Last week, I’ve met a friend just to have a dinner. With the least amount of time we were able to share what happened to our lives in the past we have not been together. From our past conversations, we’ve been talking a lot about our calling and how we’re gonna suppose to find it. And then I remember another friend shared to me a link where I can read to improve my writing and communication skills, and then I’ve found a worth sharing article from his blog.
Sometimes, figuring out our calling is not as that simple, some says, try everything as you want until you’ve figured out your calling — well there maybe a bit of truth about that but it might be a waste of time. I am going to share the 7 signs that you’ve found your calling that I’ve added a little bit information:
1. It’s familiar.
Yes, your calling should be familiar to you but it’s not obvious. Jeff Goins said that “You find your calling not by looking forward but by looking backward.”
Your past can determine your calling, try to recall your past experiences and what have you learn about yourself. Did you find yourself being good at something in the past? How about the dreams you have in your childhood? I want to quote Steve Jobs for what he said;
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
So you find your calling not in the future but by going back in your past.
2. It’s something that people see in you.
We cannot find our calling on our own, that’s why I also don’t believe in the idea of people who claimed themselves as a self-made millionaire or even billionaire. There are people who helped them to achieve that success, someone mentored them and support them along their journey. We cannot find our calling outside the context of community.
We all have blind spots, we can’t see it all. We need someone who can mentor us and guide us to see what’s the best in us. We need people that can speak to our life.
In the bible, David had no idea at all that he will be the next king of Israel until Samuel anointed him. Almost throughout the stories in the bible, God’s plans were carried out by the people He called and in the context of community.
3. It’s not easy.
A calling requires practice. It must be difficult enough because if it is not difficult, everyone will be doing it. Most of the great men who became successful in their life do what others are not willing to do. In this world that is full of noise and everyone wants to be heard, you must do something weird, something that others didn’t do.
4. It requires faith.
A calling at first is unknown, Jacob doesn’t know that he will become a nation yet he trusts God in everything.
Oswald Chambers said, “…if a person can explain exactly where and when she was called, then she probably wasn’t called at all.”
“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” — Jeremiah 29:11
5. It takes time.
Your calling does not guarantee success or safety. If you’re calling guarantees you to be safe and comfortable, you’re wrong. Copying from what Jeff Goins wrote, theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” And in his case, he was correct — he died a Christian martyr.
6. It’s more than just one thing.
A calling is more than a job or a career. it integrates you in everything you do. This is important as well; “If a calling takes you away from your family or loved ones too much, it may be more of an addiction than a vocation”.
7. It’s bigger than you.
The task must be so big that you can’t do it on your own or without a team. It should take the whole of your life to accomplish it. Just like those people who are called to be a missionary, the task is so big, it is not easy to share the gospel with other nations especially to restricted nations.The task is bigger than them but still God is bigger than it.
Just like Solomon, he knew leading the whole Israel would be a tough job and it is bigger than him, so instead of asking God for wealth, he asked for wisdom on how to lead the people. If the task does not intimidate you then you might thinking too small.
How about you? Do you have anything that you might want to add?
