Understanding Your Calling

Understanding Your Calling

   First of all, there must be the undying conviction that you are called into the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Poor results and rampant frustration within the ranks of ministry today decry the fact that many are in the ministry, but they were never called by God into the ministry.  Like your salvation experience, the call is an experience that cannot be missed or denied; you will know and realize it.  The ministry is not just another job where you train and then apply for a position.  You do not choose to be in the ministry, nor should someone else push you into a ministerial calling.  The call is solely initiated by God and is irrevocable.  You may sin and thereby disqualify yourself from ministering, but God expects your immediate repentance, timely restoration, and your full reentry into your ministry calling.

   The call is a life-changing, life-demanding, and self-surrendering experience that causes many to fear.  However, the moment you surrender to the call of God on your life, great peace transcends your soul as you wait for the crashing wave(s) of God-given vision for your ministry.

   If you are called, you can be sure that God has called you from the foundation of the world and has certainly put into you everything that will be required to do it.  The calling may be covered with your “junk.”  Your gifting(s) may need to be set free through deliverance or need to be trained and cultivated, but they are resident within you.  If you think that something is missing, know that God never included it for His plan in your life to start with.

   Never self-limit yourself by the opinions of others, no matter what their stations in life may be.  Just know that Jesus in you cannot fail.  You not only contain gifting(s), but you are also required to invest them into the lives of others.

   Take the time, regularly, to release and enhance your calling.  This you do through prayer (and fasting), worshipping Jesus (coming into His presence to be with Him, not just for Him to bless you), diligent study (the Bible and other works), and last but not least, entering into a mentoring relationship with your “father” in the Lord or someone just like him.

Secondly, to ensure your success in your calling as a pastor, take on the mantle of Jesus and dedicate your life to serving people.  It is essential that you have both authority and anointing because all your sheep will need your help—some more than others and some sooner than others—but all will need your servanthood.  Should you run out of ideas or patience in serving, just reflect on how your mother lived for you.