Joshua Webber
God speaks to us all in different ways. The way He speaks to me usually is an inner voice in my head that guides my thinking when I bring issues before Him. Yesterday, I was thinking about calling in my life and how I am always trying to figure out exactly what mine looks like. I stress about what the details are, where I will be and mainly, how important I will be.
As I was thinking along these lines, a voice in my head said, “If you spend all this time focusing on your future calling, you miss what you can do now.” I realized that the more I focus on the exact details of what my future calling is, I miss doing what God wants me to do right now, which is just as important. I spend so much time trying to get an idea about what I should be doing that I don’t end up doing anything at all. By focusing so much on my future calling, I put my future calling and ministry ahead of truly serving God.
Looking to the future and planning is important. But we can’t make the mistake of always being preoccupied with what is to come, and forgetting about what is happening now.
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:26-27)
When Jesus was on this earth, He only did as His Father told Him. He only said what the Father told Him to say.
For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent Me commanded Me to say all that I have spoken. I know that His command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told Me to say. (John 12:49-50)
Jesus had the most successful ministry, yet you never see Him sitting around thinking about what He is supposed to do or who He is as a person. Jesus always looked at what His next step was, not the path that His whole life would be shaped around.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)
There is nothing wrong with seeking God for your purpose in life. That is definitely something you should be doing! Just make sure as you are doing it that you are actively living your life in Him, not waiting for your life to begin “someday” when you have a concrete idea of what you’re supposed to do.
As you are seeking your calling, it is in the day-to-day work that you will begin to realize your purpose, not in your purpose that you will start defining your day-to-day work.