My wife’s alarm clock goes off every morning around 5 am. Most days she gets right up out of bed. Other days, she hits “snooze”, rolls over and goes back to sleep…only to repeat the process after a few minutes. Eventually, she climbs out from beneath the warm covers and starts her day. She’s able to get to her place of work on time and tend to her duties as a nurse whether she gets right up or hits “snooze”.
But, what if she didn’t set her alarm or thought she hit “snooze” but didn’t? She’d probably be late to work and wouldn’t be able to fulfill all her duties as a nurse. She’d not only be letting herself down, but also those that depend on her, her co-workers and patients.
What if, instead of an alarm, it was God calling? Would you get right up or hit “snooze”?
“calling” is defined as: “a strong urge toward a particular way of life or career; a vocation.”
The term is often used in reference to ministry, as in, “I have a calling to minister to those in need.”
What is your “calling”?
I have been called to “serve” – a fairly “generic” calling I’d say.
For the longest time I did not understand my calling. I could not define my calling. I did not know how to “act” in/on my calling. All I knew is that I “had a calling”.
Additional clarity arrived a few years ago – “Feed them”.
What the heck? I’m supposed to cook for people? I don’t know how to cook. Besides, I don’t wanna cook! How’s this going to work?
Next thing ya know, I started a blog. Don’t really know what motivated me. I enjoy the creativity associated with writing, so blogging would be a good way to “let my creativity out”. I figured I would do just that – “write” – and worry about “finding my voice” later, once I had this blogging thing all figured out.
So, I blogged. Blogged about my experiences. Blogged about family. Blogged just about everything & anything. But I blogged. And kept on blogging; all the while, trying to “find my voice”.
And guess what? God started providing me words and my “voice”. I’d start a blog knowing the direction I was going, and dang, if He wouldn’t take me some other direction. At some point, I was no longer sharing my “small” idea. I was sharing the words flowing from Him which lead to a much “larger” idea. It seemed I never wrote what I thought I would write (even though my idea was “good”) because through Him I would end up writing something “better”.
Funny thing, I can “tell” when I’m writing “through Him” because I don’t have to “search for the words”. I simply “write the words that come”. The words/phrases/sentences just flow freely, like the entire blog was “composed & completed” in my mind. All I do is type. I type until the words stop, then I “Save” and logout. Done. Sometimes I edit. Sometimes I don’t. There have even been a few occasions when I’ve deleted most of what I wrote and replaced it with what was flowing from Him. CRAZY!
Now, maybe that doesn’t make sense to you, but it makes perfectly good sense to me. I’m not even sure that description does “the process” justice. I’m not saying this happens for every blog, but it happens for most. It’s pretty cool. It’s a “thing”. I might say, it’s my “God & Dan thing”. Yup, me & God have a “thing”. CRAZY!
Anyway, one day, it hit me. Not like a ton of bricks, but in a more subtle kind of way, like “ooooh, now I understand my calling”…
- People read my blog. I may only have have a few “followers”, but I know other people besides them read my blog…and that means…I am feeding people with my words, or I should say “His words”. I’ve fed them hope. I’ve told them “You Matter”.
I got it. “Feed them”.
A strange thing happened along the way. I lost my job of 14 years. I got a new job in less than a week. Through all the ups & downs, I continued to blog.
One day at the abbey bakery (the “new” job), it hit me again, subtly…
- You bake fruitcakes. You sell fruitcakes. You take the underweight cakes home and share them with others. YOU FEED PEOPLE!
I really got it now. “Feed their body & spirit”.
That, my friends, is how a “call” God works. Plain and simple.
Is this “It”? Is there more to my calling than this? I don’t know. This feels more like a “Beginning” than it does an “End”. So, only time will tell. Until then, I’ll have to trust in the “God & Dan thing” and follow where it leads.
What will you do when He “calls”? Get up & take action or hit “snooze”?
I’m “acting in/on my calling”; so, I’ve made my choice.
What’s yours?
Dan’s View 