3 Myths I Used To Believe About My “Calling”

I don’t know about you, but for me, there has been so much pressure around this idea of discovering my “calling.” You might use different language than this (“calling” is the word that tends to be used in Christian circles) but a similar question would look like this: What am I going to do with my life?

What makes my life matter?

What gets me out of bed in the morning?

What am I living for?

photo: Simon Fraser University…, Creative Commons]

It has occurred to me recently, that no matter what we name this sense of purpose we’re all seeking to find, there are all kinds of myths floating around about how we figure it out, what we’re supposed to do with it when we do discover it, if it is even important, and what it actually is.

I’ve been thinking about this often, and talking to others about it, and I’ve realized there are three things I believed about my “calling” that didn’t help me discover it.

I still don’t know exactly what calling is, but here are three things I’m pretty sure calling isn’t.

My calling is not as complicated and mysterious as I made it out to be.

It’s not like a cosmic game of hide and seek. God is not trying to pull the wool over my eyes or trick me into finding my mysterious calling. I don’t have to be on alert for vague signs and signals around every corner. It isn’t a scavenger hunt.

Lately, I’ve been uncovering my calling by simply asking myself this question: What do I want?

I’m not talking about “what do I want?” like what do I want from Target, or what sounds good for lunch (sometimes what I want right this minute isn’t what I really want). I’m talking about the deepest longings and desires in my heart. What really matters to me? What would I be willing to give up everything to save? What’s most important?

The more I begin to unpack my own answers to these questions, and the more willing I am to walk toward them, the more clear my calling becomes.

My calling is not something I will do “someday”

For so long I thought of calling as something I would do when I grew up, when I became an adult. But then, I became an adult… and then an older adult… and my calling didn’t really feel much clearer. I thought it would be clear when I finished college, and then when I finished graduate school, and then maybe when I got married.

But still, there was never a moment where calling felt like it was perfectly illuminated.

My “calling” is like a Polaroid picture. It’s slowly coming to light. [tweet that]

The biggest revelation in all of this is I don’t have to wait for that moment of perfect clarity to begin living my calling. In fact, if I want to know what I will do “someday” with my life, I can simply look at what I’m doing right now, and I’ll get a pretty good picture. If I’m living mostly for myself, to be happy and comfortable, chances are I’ll be doing that in two years, five years, ten years, and later.

I don’t need to wonder what I’m going to do with my life. The question is answered. I’m already doing it.

The new question is: Do I want to do something different?

My calling is not a destination.

I walked myself into so much shame and confusion with this faulty logic, thinking that I would be living my “calling” when I achieved a certain title, or job, or home or marital status or tax bracket. I flip-flopped back and forth between feeling furious at God for leading me down a faulty path, and furious with myself for messing it all up.

It was a disaster.

But lately I’m seeing how it was the logic that was faulty, not God, and not even what I was doing. Calling is not a destination. Calling is a journey, and I’m on it.

So are you.

Calling is not a vocation, or a position, or a title or a salary or a couch from Pottery Barn. It’s not a clothing allowance or bigger budget or category like “student” or “vegan” or “stay-at-home-mom.” Calling is a journey. It’s an invitation. Calling is what Jesus says to the rich young ruler, and I believe it’s what he says to us, too:

Will you put down your baggage and come, follow?

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