There is a sense that your call is not a one time event but is a continuing experience. In many ways God’s call is a heightened sensitivity to God’s guiding presence in the journey of your life. It fills your life with a greater purpose because the purpose of your life is not restricted to what you are getting out of your life. You are part of a greater story.
It, of course, includes having a sense of direction in your life. Your life is going somewhere. There is an intentionality to it and in the case of a believer, that intentionality includes God’s purpose in your life. Building on Paul’s experience of being forbidden by the Spirit to speak in Asia and Bithynia and receiving a vision that directed him to Macedonia (Acts 16:6-10), it becomes clear that our calls can change from time to time. It is also clear that even though we seek to be faithful to the call, it is not always clear to us the direction that it will take. This is why it is so important to develop practices that keep us in touch with God’s evolving call in our lives.
It is important for clergy and educators to pay attention to their call as they try to discern the church they will serve. However, I don’t believe that you can always determine the shape of your call by the normal visible signs of opportunity and success. It is nice to have everyone like you and to be successful in what you do, but sometimes God can call you to an experience that is frustrating and even appears to be a failure.
I will explore this more in future blogs.
