Consider some basic assumptions. One that God is real, personally involved in this world, and has called you to ministry. In good Reformed tradition, everyone has a call to ministry, even though only some are called to ordained ministry as pastors, so this really applies to any believer.
Second assumption is that God has been involved in your life and shaping your call long before you were aware of it. Third assumption is that your call will likely change over time but the central core of the call will still be there. For example, I first thought of missionary work, then of inner city work, but eventually became a pastor of a middle class church. Now I’m retired but still feel God’s call in my life.
With those assumptions in mind, take some time to think back to your childhood. What were some of the fantasies that you played with about who you would become? Did you want to be a cowboy, a fireman, a beauty queen, an Olympic athlete? Now go behind those initial fantasies and identify some of the qualities that drew you to those dreams. What did the cowboy, beauty queen, etc. do that drew you to those fantasies? Was being the best draw in the West a factor of developing your full skills, saving others from bad guys, standing up for truth and justice?
After you have probed behind several of your early fantasies, move forward and do the same for other paths not taken in your early life. Keep a list of some of the qualities and achievements that you were dreaming about. Now begin to examine how some of those same factors have played a role in your current situation when you have felt best about yourself. If there are aspects of your current situation where you feel such qualities have been neglected, consider how they might be re-emphasized in some new form in your current life. The Spirit has been moving in your life from the beginning of your life. Listen for it’s early echoes and see how it might be moving in your life now.
