Calling

“Soak continually in the one great truth of which you have had a vision; take it to bed with you, sleep with it, rise up in the morning with it. Continually bring your imagination into captivity to it and slowly and surely as the months and years go by, God will make you one of His specialists in that particular truth.” Oswald Chambers

“Your Calling is not about what you can do, but about who you are. This is not about what you are good at, but what the good is that God has created in you.” Gary Barkelow, It’s Your Call.

“Discovering your calling is not about finding a job, but finding your life. This book (It’sYour Call) is not about finding a solution to the situation you are in, but about deciphering your life as it unfolds in and around that situation. You see, your life is far deeper, far weightier than you have probably come to believe, and that is why all of the career, calling, or personality tests, assessments, and indicators have not helped a great deal or at a profound level. You are more than you have imagined, and there is more going on than you have probably been led to believe.” Gary Barkelow, It’s Your Call

My Calling

Several posts ago, I mentioned I attended a Wild at Heart retreat in the mountains of Colorado. At this retreat, I heard an author and speaker by the name of Gary Barkelow. He used to lead a session in the retreat around a mans calling.

Ever since hearing Gary speak on calling and then reading his book, studying through his workbook, and even working through his online self-study course, I’ve been fascinated by this topic.

Gary’s course has several exercises you work and pray through, and as you complete the homework, you submit it to Gary and his team. They then spend time disciphering your answers. You then get three counseling sessions to discuss what Gary and his team sense God is saying through them.

It’s a really cool process and I enjoyed it, and to this day, I still read Gary’s book at least once a year.

With all that said, here is what I sense my calling is: to help deepen and strengthen people’s walk with God.

Now, I write that and share that with you, to then say this…there is so much more to the story of my calling than just that sentence. But, if I had to put words to it, those are the ones I would use. And I love that nobody can take my calling away from me. My calling isn’t a job somebody can fire me from.

The Three Ghost’s of Christmas

One of the exercises in Gary’s book is he has you think about characters in movies that you love. And over the years, as I pull Gary’s book off the shelf and re-read it, I’m always drawn to this exercise.

Almost every year around Christmas, I spend several days with God wrestling through deeper clarity around my calling.

And every year, God gives me a little nugget, just to keep me coming back for more. This last year, I was praying about a movie I love around Christmas time, A Christmas Carol.

And I was thinking and asking God, who am I in this story? Why do I love this story?

This last year God spoke loud, as if He was in the room. He said, “Matt, you are Scrooge, because you are such a penny-penching miser!” I’m totally kidding, what God really said was, “You are the three ghosts of Christmas. Watch the three ghosts and see how they work in Scrooge’s life. You love this story, because you love to help bring depth, encouragement and insight into people’s lives, that then help people deepen and strengthen their walk with Me.”

This is exactly what the three ghosts did for Scrooge. They brought him clarity and helped him see his life through the lens of wisdom, and the way God would want Scrooge to interpret and live his life. It was a really cool revelation for me. A revelation that has brought clarity and deeper understanding about why I’m drawn to do certain things.

So, this year, consider buying Gary’s book, “It’s Your Call.” And the workbook too, and pray about studying through Gary’s self-paced study. It is profound!

Go to: www.TheNobleHeart.com to find Gary’s book and resources.

If you know your calling in life, please leave me a comment below. I’d love to hear how God has uniquely made you and uses you to accomplish His mission.

Knowing, or beginning the journey of discovering your calling in life, draws you deeper in relationship with God. It strengthens my heart when God reveals more clarity around why He made me. I hope and pray you experience the same!

It really is your call!

Matt