My Calling: How Do I Know It's God?

June 8, 2009

Contributors to ninetyandnine.com 

While it might be teenagers who fret most about “God's will,” each of us is likely to face many different callings in our lives, each with different responsibilities required.  To help define those truths, we asked a variety of people across the nation to share their thoughts and experiences in this matter.

 
We'll be covering related questions in the upcoming weeks, but--as always--we'd like you to share your thoughts on these questions.

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How do you know what you're called to do by God? 

I've heard people say you can't go by feelings but I must say that you know when you are in the will of God because it will feel right.  There have been a few times in my life where I searched for direction in what to do.  I knew God was calling/wanting me to do something.  So I prayed and asked God for His guidance in what He wanted me to do.   

I have always said, “God's timing is the best timing.”  Sometimes we get a little impatient and try to “pry” doors open that are closed.  But in God's perfect timing He will lead us through open doors He wants us to walk through in His time.  And when you walk through that door it will feel right.   

You may feel like a “chicken with its head cut off” while you wait on God's will in your life but when you do His will, pray, and wait on His timing, you will know it is right. 

Robbie Knox has been an evangelist, pastor, and now the General Sunday School Secretary, but most importantly he is husband to Krista and daddy to Houston and Brooklyn.   
 

Read the words of Jesus, as He spoke to His disciples and followers, and apply it to yourself. Don't get caught up in specifics. 

Travis Carter from Staten Island, NY, starts by telling people his name and then explains what he does. Not the other way around. He is also nocturnal by nature and enjoys breakfast the night before.  
 

I believe the call of God can be equated with the will of God. Some are lifetime callings, others are for a particular time span in life. Bro. Charles Grisham taught us that in the will of God, “the dove of His Peace” will settle and your questions and strivings will subside. I've found that to be the case. He calls to far more than preaching and/or missionary endeavors.  

The one universal calling is to laborers (service). In addition, some are called to particular vocations (secular and/or spiritual), others to usefulness, to attentiveness and sensitivity. As in the life of David, when the calling and the enabling coincide in His timing, there is a hand in glove fit. God's anointing rests upon us, but He also provides the approval (“anointing”) of those we are to serve. This dual anointing synergizes our effectiveness. Without it, we are sure to flounder.  

Our measuring stick is His Word. Know that He will not call you to do something that contradicts His Word, that is an abomination to Him, or than is cursed by Him. 

As she retires from the workaday world, Marjorie Kinnee is entrusting her future to the safest of all hands and seeking His face while she waits on His leading. 
 

In my personal experience, God reveals my calling to me as I go through life. If I am passionate about something, or enjoy doing it (like writing, art, praying, public speaking) and I can use the activity as a form of promoting the Gospel--then to me it is part of my calling.  

My calling draws on me. It pulls me to act. I'm passionate about it. I don't have to try; it just comes as a result of my relationship with God. If I had to identify my callings, it would be in this order: prayer/intercession, being a friend to those in need/mentoring, writing, encouragement/counseling/praying with others, art, music, speaking/teaching.  

God doesn't use me 24/7 in a highly intense anointing mode. When that does happen, it reaffirms my faith in knowing that I'm on the right track, but my daily life fulfills my calling because it works toward the cause of perpetuating the Gospel of Christ.” 

Rachael Hartman is an aspiring writer, editor, and graduate student. She loves going on adventures to places she has never been, and meeting people of various cultures and backgrounds. In her off time, she gets childhood joy out of winning Prada purses and Blackberries through playing “Sorority Life” on Facebook.  
 

Although I can't claim to have received an ultimate, long-term calling, I feel that I've known when God has called me to do something specific for a season.   Whenever something I was passionate about coincided with God-given ability and opportunity in order to fulfill a need, I felt it was my calling.  An example I can think of was when I taught a free community Spanish class at my church.  Possibly prompted by the presence of Spanish-speaking members at the church, there were several members of my congregation who wanted to learn Spanish in order to communicate with them.   

Some of their co-workers had expressed interest as well (a need).  I love teaching and Spanish (passion).  I also had experience teaching and translating and I speak Spanish fluently (ability).  Doors opened for me to be able to start the class, and church people as well as non-church people began to come (opportunity).  One of my mom's co-workers who swore off ever going to church, not only came to the Spanish classes, but ended up being baptized in the name of Jesus and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.  I feel the Spanish class opened up the door.” 

Chantell Smith is thankfully plowing through her last few months of graduate school in Auburn, Alabama. 

 
I grew up as an MK on the field. I always knew that more could be done to minister to my peers. I felt so disconnected from the states for four years and then felt thrown back into the American culture for the year that we were on deputation. The more I pursued the burden, the more the doors flew open for me. I also had several pastors, and ministers tell me that was my calling, but had to know it for myself.  

I recall a time in prayer while in my early twenties where I saw MKs around the world crying out to me. Some were bandaged and hurting, some looked normal, but they were reaching out to me to help them. I then heard the Lord tell me, “You have thought your whole life that you were called to missions but I have chosen you to help with missions around the world by ministering to these missionary children.” At that point I knew I had been chosen of God to do this work.  I could not get away from that calling.   
 
Cylinda Shirley Nickel serves as the MK Ministries Assistant Coordinator and Office Manager. She, her husband and two girls currently call North Carolina home. 
 

In early adulthood I received advice from an elder that I have continued to practice. Be proactive. Some will wait around for God to “open a door”, as if sitting on a couch in a room full of doors and waiting on something to happen. Instead, I was encouraged to “try the door handles”. If the door opens, go through and see where it leads.  

In connection with that, I would add, constantly prepare yourself. Even if you are unsure of the specific path you are going to walk, you can still become a better person spiritually, socially, emotionally and intellectually. Personal growth may lead to the very thing you're seeking.  

Further, I believe that when God is calling us to something, that compulsion intensifies with time. If I feel a direction that weakens or subsides with time, then I consider it being a natural impulse, and not God's.  

Travis Miller is a husband, father, and cyclist. His ongoing challenge in life is to become a better human.  
 

What do you believe is necessary to confirm a calling from God? Tell us here. 
 

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