Discerning Your Calling

What are you born to do?

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. —Ephesians 2:10

Photo by PJ Gal-Szabo on Unsplash

“Your assignment is to write a personal mission statement for your life in seven words or less. It must follow this pattern: verb, subject, outcome. What are you called to do? To whom or to where or in what context are you called? And what is the change, effect, or impact you are called to pursue?”

This was what Dr. Wong Loi Sing told our class at Moody Theological Seminary. We were learning to discern and clarify our calling, whether that meant full-time pastoral ministry, international missions work, serving the Lord in the marketplace, or raising a family. God has a calling for your life. Do you know your calling?

In his book, Leadership As An Identity, Dr. Crawford Loritts writes, “There comes a time when you have to stop doing the things that you can do, and even the things that you are improving in, and concentrate on the things you were born to do… What are you born to do?”

I took the assignment seriously. I had already heard God’s call and was serving as a Worship Pastor, but I spent a considerable time in prayer and wrote my verb-subject-outcome personal mission statement in seven words:

Engineering the church to create kingdom glimpses.

Whether I’m leading worship, leading a meeting, preaching, developing leaders, counseling, or meeting with a small group for prayer and discipleship, my calling is to bring God’s design for the church into the lived experience of a congregation so that together we become a preview of the kingdom of heaven. This is my vocation.

What is your calling? What are you born to do? I know those are huge questions that can sometimes feel paralyzing to ask! How does one discern his calling? Where do I start? Here’s a simple way to begin. Bring your prayer journal and write down thoughts as they come!

1. Ask God to show you what you’re believing about yourself that isn’t true.

2. Ask God to show you who he says you are.

3. Ask God to show you the needs and opportunities around you.

4. Try to serve or do something to meet the need or step into the opportunity, and see how it goes. Debrief with God in prayer afterward.

This isn’t a single five-minute prayer. Discovering your calling is a process of discernment over time. It could take weeks, months, or even years. It involves listening and contemplative prayer. It involves asking God clarifying questions as thoughts come to mind. It involves trial and error as you serve in various ways. It’s often helpful to include a trusted Christian friend, a pastor, an elder, or a spiritual director.

There’s a lot more that I don’t have space for in a 500-word blog post. But I hope I said enough to encourage you to get started! For further exploration, here are a few great resources.

• The Call by Os Guinness

• The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson

• Living Fearless by Jamie Winship

Pray. Read. Serve. Share. Listen. Observe.

What is your calling?