This article offers a deeper understanding of when God is calling you, how He does it, and why.
Understanding and obeying God’s plans for your life
Many people find themselves asking, “Why am I here” or “What’s my purpose?” It’s usually when life throws some difficult blows and curveballs that these questions are raised in our disappointment and sadness.
Yet, we’re told that if we still have breath in our bodies, then God still has a plan for us. And this is true. You were created in God’s image and born at a specific time, at a specific place for a specific purpose.
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:16 NIV
God knows every detail of your life from your birth until your death. He knows every mistake that will be made and every sin that will be committed and He still chose you. He has called you as His own.
However, if it’s not clear what God’s calling on your life is, I pray this article will set you on the path to discovering it.
Spoiler alert, you probably already know what it is, you just haven’t realized it yet.
And for those of you who without a doubt know what your calling is, but have a bit of hesitation, I hope this article will encourage you in your faith. As you’ll see later, though the road is rocky, no one has ever regretted following God. His plans are true and perfect for you and His kingdom.
What does it mean to be called by God?
Merriam-Webster defines a calling as “a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence.”
In essence, a calling from a biblical perspective is allowing God to work through you to act on behalf of His kingdom.
We are all a part of the body of Christ and each of us is given certain gifts and talents to contribute to God’s kingdom right here on Earth.
Metaphorically, some of us are the leg, some are the hand, and some are the feet. The body of Christ needs every one of its members to operate for it to thrive.
This is why you are called to be in position and obedient to the call of God. Whether you’re an intellect or you can sing, write, paint, dance, or some combination of the above, you were given these talents to bring glory to God.
No matter how small you think your part is, your role is crucial. Have you ever tried to pick something up without your thumb? Pretty difficult isn’t it?
Now you may be asking, what does a calling from God look like? Well, God has provided the answers to that question in Scripture.
In the next section, we’ll look at the stories of some Christians who came before us, how they were called, and how their obedience to those callings impacted the nation and generations to come.
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How God calls people along with examples of callings from the Bible
If you’re wondering how God calls His people, the stories from the Bible below provide us with some evidence.
God calls His people with His voice.
Samuel
During a time when the word of the Lord was scarce and people were not seeing many visions from God, Samuel was called by the voice of God to start his ministry. You can find the readings in 1 Samuel 3.
Samuel answered the call with “Here I am.”
In saying yes to his calling, Samuel would go on to be the last judge of Israel, a warrior and prophet for God, and the man who would guide the first kings of Israel.
God calls His people through others.
Sarah
Sarah was called in her disappointment and feelings of hopelessness. She had struggled with infertility and due to her age, thought that she had lost her war. In her heart, she just knew she wouldn’t be able to experience motherhood and provide her husband with an heir.
In Genesis chapter 17, we are like a fly on the wall as God makes promises to Abraham even changing his name from Abram and Sarah’s name from Sarai.
God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
Genesis 17:15-16
In Chapter 18, we see that God sent three men who prophesied the same. When Sarah heard them, she laughed in disbelief. For she was about 90 years old.
Nevertheless, God delivered on His word and Sarah became the mother of Isaac through which God established his covenant. Sarah is the ancestor of King David and Jesus, whose reign will last forever.
God calls His people through a position He has appointed them to.
Esther
During King Xerxes rule, his wife, Queen Vashti, refused to obey his commands and was stripped of her queendom.
God orchestrated it so that Esther would be chosen as the new Queen. Esther would soon find out why.
There was an enemy of Israel in high power named Haman. Haman hated the Jews and wanted to destroy the entire population of God’s people.
Unbeknownst to Haman, Esther was a Jew. Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, came to Esther for help alerting her of Haman’s plan to kill all of the Jews.
His infamous words to her,
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14
Esther answered and fulfilled her calling using her position as queen and God-given favor with the King to save the Jews. Haman ended up impaled on the same pole he had set up to impale Mordecai on.
God calls His people through dreams
Joseph aka the Dreamer
Joseph was given dreams by God and had the gift of interpreting the dreams of others.
He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
Genesis 37:6-8
Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind
Genesis 37:9-11
Though Joseph was only seventeen and naive about sharing his dreams with the wrong people, God was showing Joseph who He would become.
Though knowledge of his dreams and his brother’s hatred for Him landed him in slavery and eventually jail, these events were all orchestrated by God.
While in prison, the king’s cupbearer and baker were also thrown in jail. Both men had dreams that Joseph interpreted for them. As Joseph had interpreted, the cupbearer was restored to his prior position while the baker was killed.
Some time went by and Joseph was left in prison feeling forgotten. That is until Pharaoh had a dream and needed someone to interpret it. He not only wanted the dream to be interpreted, he wanted the wise men to first tell him what his dream was so that he could trust their interpretation.
No one could do it.
The cupbearer remembered Joseph and Pharaoh summoned him. God gave Joseph the ability to tell Pharoah what his dream was and then tell him what it meant.
As a result, Joseph went from being a prisoner to second in command to Pharaoh. God had warned of seven great years of abundance which would be followed by seven years of a great and severe famine that would wipe out the prior years.
Joseph was put in charge of the land of Egypt. He used wisdom and discernment to save grain from the years of abundance and was able to feed nations when the famine came.
Joseph saw the dream God had given him as a teenager come to fruition. His brothers, who had sold him into slavery, came to him bowing in respect to buy grain for their starving families not knowing who he was at first.
God used Joseph to save His chosen people, including his brothers who would father the tribes of Israel.
How you can find out if God is calling you to do something?
Just being God’s child here on earth means that you are called and have a mission here. Just as I hinted to above, we all have a purpose and a role to fulfill.
The examples I gave above of other Christian’s callings may have sparked some similarities to help you identify your own. But, if you’re still not sure, here are some suggestions on how to identify your calling from God.
Spend time with God.
If you want to know what someone is trying to say to you, you must spend time with them. When you spend time with God, you get to know His will and His heart.
As you draw closer to Him, He will start to reveal things that you could never understand otherwise.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds;and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8
If you’re looking for creative ways to spend time with God in today’s chaotic world, check out my blog article in the link below this article.
Look at your gifts and talents.
Your gifts and talents are some of the most obvious clues in finding out what God has called you to do. The reason is that God gave them to you.
Look at the beautiful landscapes of the earth, God painted them. Look at the massive mountains, God built them. They are his sculptures. Look at the famous scientists and physicians curing diseases and improving quality of life. God is the ultimate healer.
Everything good that we are emulates from Him. In performing our duties as artists, scientists, teachers, and parents, we glorify God.
Seek godly leaders for guidance.
When I got to med school, I found myself writing God’s encouraging words that He had spoken to me in a journal. I really thought I was going crazy because I could be sitting with a heavy heart and I would just write what I heard.
It was like I was thinking, but I wasn’t. A calm and gentle voice that sounded like mine guiding me.
I showed the journal to one of the leaders at the church I was attending at the time. I don’t know why, probably validation that I wasn’t going crazy.
She read the journal, looked at me, smiled, and hugged me. She told me “This is a calling. You’re going to need to study the Bible. You will encourage women all over this world.”
She provided me with a book on how to study the Bible. Admittedly, I never got through it as I was in med school at the time overwhelmed.
But, I often think about her words as I look at my analytics as a blogger and see that people from all over the world are reading my blog posts and my blog continues to grow (with or without me).
I share this to say that if you are struggling to find God’s purpose for you, it’s ok to seek wise counsel. Sometimes others have the insight that you don’t and could be the missing piece to your puzzle.
I hope these tidbits help. But, please be rest assured. God will make His will known to you. He is a patient and caring Father who wants you to operate at your highest potential.
Final thoughts on understanding how, why, and when God is calling you
In this article, we have discussed what a calling from God is, how a calling from God looks, and signs that God is calling you.
The only thing we touched on throughout the article, but haven’t outright discussed is the importance of your “yes” when God calls you.
Your obedience aka your “yes” to your calling is so important and can affect generations to come. I mean that literally. Just take a look at the biblical stories above.
No matter how impossible it looks, say yes anyway. No matter how inadequate you may feel, tell the enemy you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, and say yes anyway. I promise you that there is victory on the other side of your obedience.
God cannot fail and thus you cannot under His command. He promises numerous times in the Bible never to leave nor forsake you.
God is writing a story and you are one of the main characters. Your purpose aka your calling is intertwined in the greatest story ever written and for the kingdom eternal.
I hope this article helps you discover your calling from the Lord and that your answer will be a resounding yes. For who knows, maybe you were born for such a time as this.
Be blessed,
-Dr Jay
If you enjoyed the blog post on when god is calling you, take a look at some of our related articles below.
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