Hello! Did September just happen??

I’m taking up the 31-day writing challenge for the month of October. There are many ways to join in with this and I’m following Katie Motaungs daily word prompt to free-write for five minutes everyday.

Easy right? Write.

Day One word prompt: CALLING

I remember when I was a 17 year old baby Christian, I was convinced I was ‘called’ to be a Pastors wife. Ahem.

Evidence here in my first bible, complete with compulsory red leather case and gold edge tabs.

Then years later Phil, my husband, who just so happens to be a Pastor would dream of Canada and after a couple of years I gently asked him to stop telling me because you know, roots and tribe and all. Until, my reaction began to change and one night my resistance (fear) faded and a divine shift happened.

And here we are in Canada…of course we all know just because we say yes to a calling doesn’t mean it’s easy (see most bible characters for details) CS Lewis wrote ‘To follow the vocation does not mean happiness, but once it has been heard, there is no happiness for those who do not follow.’

A calling isn’t glamorous, it’s a response, a yes to a summons. A surrender. To die to past and say yes to the future.

I have found we so often complicate our God given calling, as I get a little older I find the following to be true:

You’re called to the very thing that gets your heart racing, your blood pumping.

You’re called to be the world changer that you secretly know you are.

You’re called to be life to the one in front of you.

For some you are called to raise your kids, to work in Starbucks, to buy dinner for the guy holding the ‘to honest to steal to ugly to whore’ sign.

Others you’re called to work nights, to write those words, to sing those songs.

You are called to live and breathe and scream when life doesn’t make any sense.

You are called to find Christ in the midst of suffering and to invite his Spirit to bring healing.

You are called to be a good friend and LOVE yourself.

To know you are fearfully and wonderfully made…and to bring this truth those you meet.

And.

Before all of that, let’s start in the secret place.

You are called to intimacy with your Maker.

Or as Oswald Chambers puts it…

If we are in fellowship and oneness with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, then we will no longer strive to find out what His purposes are. As we grow in the Christian life, it becomes simpler to us, because we are less inclined to say, “I wonder why God allowed this or that?” And we begin to see that the compelling purpose of God lies behind everything in life, and that God is divinely shaping us into oneness with that purpose. A Christian is someone who trusts in the knowledge and the wisdom of God, not in his own abilities. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should be characteristic of the children of God.

And if you’re still a little stuck, let’s take this advice from Micah 6:8

‘But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously—take God seriously.’

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!

Love, Michelle