It is easy to get caught up in God’s will for our lives. We are left wondering and waiting. We ask questions about the future and fear God will not provide. In the middle of deciding the best next steps, there are callings each believer has on their lives. While it is easy to get caught up in God’s specific will for your life, believers can rest in the fact that God has already given each of us a calling. In seasons of mundane, waiting, asking and hoping, it is in these seasons that we pursue what God has already spoken to us.
1. Every believer is called to love God.
In the middle of seasons where every door seems to close, trials of suffering and heartache, confusion and unbelief, believers are called to love the Lord their God. When things don’t go our way, when others break our hearts, when an ending is not in sight for the trial set before us or when we feel as if God is not near or hearing our prayers, we are called to still seek and love Him.
Some seasons are harder than others. In those times, ask God to continue to reveal himself to you. Ask him for a heart that desires to know him more and deeper. When we know the characteristics of God, this is when we love him more. We have a loving Father who is for us, not against us. His love is abounding in steadfastness, he sees us as his children. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
2. Every believer is called to discipleship.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he leaves the disciples with a commandment and hope filled reminder. Matthew 28:18-19 says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Before he commands the disciples to tell the world about him, he tells them that all authority has been given to him. This means we don’t have to live in fear, worry about the future and that we can trust him with our lives. With this truth, he tells the disciples to go and make disciples of the world and baptize them. As Christians, we are on a mission to grow believers and tell non-believers about the hope and eternal life found in Jesus. To close his call, he promises the disciples that he is always with them, until the very end of the world. This truth is true today. God is not far from us, he is with us right now. We can rely on and trust him. Lean into his spirit as you ask for guidance and come alongside others in their walk with the Lord.
3. Every believer is called to love others.
The New Testament repeatedly speaks of the command to love others. We are to look to the needs of others and meet them right where they are. We are to love no matter the person. John 15:10-13 says, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Jesus spoke this truth to his disciples right after he commanded them to abide in him. In these verses, Jesus also teaches his followers what true obedience looks like. To love the Father means to walk in obedience. When we obey, our hearts are filled with joy. Jesus ends his commands with a call to love others, just like how he loves his people. We can look at his life as he loved others while on earth and his ultimate, loving sacrifice, death on a cross.
4. Every believer is called to seek first the Kingdom of God.
In the middle of chaos, heartbreak, joyfulness and thanksgiving, Jesus calls us to seek first his kingdom. Above anything this world has to offer, we are to seek Jesus first. It is his name that healing, life, power and light is found. We must surrender our plans to Jesus and trust that he will guide and lead our lives. He is the good shepherd and he has good plans for those who love, believe and follow him.
In Matthew 6, Jesus is preaching his famous Sermon on the Mount. In this part of the sermon, Jesus encourages his believers not to worry. He instead encourages them to seek first the kingdom of God in exchange for anxiety. Verses 31 through 34 says, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Trust that God knows exactly what you need when you need it. Be in prayer with Him, share your heart.
