I firmly believe that there are two types of people: the ones who know what they want to do when they grow up and achieve that and the ones who have no idea. When I was little, my idea of the perfect job was being a singing mermaid. Yes, you heard that right! A signing mermaid. Beyond that, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Fast forward to college when everyone was picking their major – yep, still nothing. I took a class in almost every program my university offered to see if it sparked anything that I could see myself doing for the rest of my life. I agonized about what God wanted me to do. What road was I supposed to take to the rest of my life? And I think that’s one of the biggest questions we all wrestle with at some point: What am I here for? What’s my calling in life?
If you’re struggling with the same dilemma, I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned over the past decade and I pray that it will bring you peace and help give you clarity.
1. We Are All Called to Share Jesus
Your calling and your career aren’t always going to be the same thing. As Christians, we are called to share Jesus with the world. We are also called to work and provide for ourselves, our families and help those who are unable to work. Nowhere in the Bible does it say to trade one for the other; we are to do both. Some people work in ministry and are paid for it, but that doesn’t release them from sharing the Gospel on their own time as well. Most people, however, are going to find work outside of ministry and that’s okay. In fact, it’s great! We need believers in the classrooms, in the courts, in corporate offices and everywhere else. The gifts, talents and interests God gave you may not be what he intends for you to make money with. Before coming to work at I Am Second, I worked in corporate offices writing for retail brands, hotels, apartments and other industries. Does that mean that God wasn’t using me during that time? Of course not. While I was in those jobs, I was able to share Jesus with my coworkers and serve in my church.
We see this in the life of Jesus as well. Jesus began his ministry when he was 30 years old; up until then, he worked as a carpenter. (Side note of encouragement to our friends in college, people just starting their careers and those who are making career changes – it’s okay to not have everything figured out right now. Keep praying and following the doors God opens, he will direct your steps.) If we go by today’s timeframe, that means Jesus spent at least ten years working a regular job and growing in his walk with God before he was ready to step into his ministry.
Similarly, we also see that Paul was a tentmaker for his profession. Yes, Paul preached the Gospel and traveled all over to tell people about Jesus, but when he stopped traveling, he worked as a tentmaker. That was his career that he had trained for until God called him to his ministry, and what he returned to in order to support himself.
Where God has you and the experiences you’ve lived, that’s what he wants you to use to reach the lost. Who can relate better to a single mom than a single mom? Who can understand the struggles of an addict better than a former addict saved by grace? Friend, your calling is to tell people about Jesus in the unique way that only you can.
2. Your Calling Can Change & Grow
Your calling can change and have time limits. In life, we go through seasons. Seasons of growth, seasons of refining, seasons of blessing and so on. The same is true of our callings and interests. God did not create us to live singularly and selfishly. He created us to live in community and help each other. You may be called to different things throughout your life for certain seasons because God has specific lessons he wants you to learn and people he wants you to serve.
God called me and my family to be caregivers during my sister’s cancer treatment. While my mom had been a caregiver for my grandmother, I had never walked through a serious illness like that. Through expenses, hospital stays, treatments and everything else that came with my sister’s care, God taught me how to truly put others first, trust him for everything – and I mean every little thing – and be thankful in the moment. I’m walking into the next season of my life and the calling God has for me equipped with new wisdom and understanding of who God is; ready to serve God and people in a way I wasn’t able to before. My calling during that time didn’t enable me to make a living, but God in his faithfulness provided through my day job. They were different, but God was using me and teaching me in both.
3. God Cares More About People Than Paychecks
The only thing we can take from this world to eternity is people, and that’s what life is all about. We are bombarded with material things and over-the-top lifestyles every day on social media. In an age where influencers seem to make endless heaps of money for talking about the latest products (hashtag blessed) and you feel like you’re barely getting by working 40 hours a week or more, it’s easy to become focused on things, beauty and status. But that’s just a distraction the enemy uses to get us off-focus.
Over and over in the Bible, God assures us that he will provide for us and take care of us (Philippians 4:19, Matthew 6:31-32, Matthew 10:29-31). God knows what we need before we even need it and he is faithful to provide. It’s easy to want the things we see on social media – the expensive clothes and accessories, the latest skincare, gorgeous homes and polished families – but that stuff isn’t important to God. He wants us tuned into the people around us and sensitive to the ways he’s calling us to serve others. If you are walking in God’s will for you, it may not look like a bank account overflowing with money, but your needs will be met, and I’d venture to guess that you will also have peace and joy that could never come from material possessions or money.