God's Calling

Do you have a calling from God on your life? I already knew that God calls people to preach, teach, mission field, etc., BUT Dad (in his sermon Sunday) showed us a different way of looking at God's Calling. And if you're a Christian and you are not fulfilling that calling then you are sinning. And guess where you're going to end up if you die and never completed that calling - hell. God's NOT going to call sinners (except to repentence). He does, however, call His children to very specific things every single day. Are we listening? God's calling on your life could be lifelong - for example, preaching, being a leader or mission field. God's calling could be short term - for example, short-term mission trips. OR God's calling could be a one time thing - for example, He wants you to do something for someone. Whatever that calling, have you completed, or in the process of, completing the task? Let's go back and take a look at God calling someone to be a leader. YES, I do believe God does call some people into the 'leadership' ministry. God needs good, wholesome, godly people to lead. Just like He needs those same people to minister, teach, etc. If you're not leading, for whatever reason, you are sinning. Same with any other calling. Now to get on a personal level. Grace and I had some very long talks yesterday, and among other things, we talked about leadership AND what I felt in my heart concerning this matter. I feel strongly in my heart that God has called her to leadership. She has all the makings of being a good Christian leader, except for one thing. SHE'S NOT DOING IT!! I have known of her leadership calling from the time she was a baby. I groomed her to that end, helping and encouraging her in anyway possible without interfering with God. All was well and good, she was on her way, until 5th grade. Not sure what happened, but everything seemed to fall apart. Well, I'm kind of sure what happened, but that's a different story, and not really relevant here. The point is, she left that calling. She didn't know she had a leadership calling (to her, she was just doing what came NATURAL) and I was helpless to help. She had gotten hurt to the point of being crushed forever. Taking her out of PS and homeschooling her didn't help. Nothing did. Until 7 years later (and last Sunday) when dad preached that sermon on God's calling. And that got me to thinking. One thought led to another, and I eventually ended up thinking back to Grace's leadership calling. And yes, I do think some people are born leaders. They just need help in honing those skills. And for some reason (thanks God), I thought I'd approach the subject with Grace again. We started talking about dad's sermon and different things God calls people to do, and we ended up talking about God calling people to be leaders. I told her what I have felt in my heart for the last 18 years and how I felt about the fact that she's running from that calling. I also told her that God can give people more than one calling - but that one of her callings was to be a leader, and if she's not doing that, then she's sinning. That goes for anyone reading this - if you are running from God's calling on your life, you better hope you don't die until you get started fulfilling that calling. If you die like that you'll bust hell wide open. God has called me to play the piano and I do it for His honor and glory and I do it with a PASSION!! God also called me to educate Grace at home, but I ran from that one for several years, until it was almost too late. And only because I was scared, didn't know how we would make it on one income, was selfish in pursuing my own education, etc.. you name it, I probably thought it. And for that, I blame myself for Grace's misfortunes in PS. I hope she'll forgive me oneday. But I made it right and started homeschooling her. I answered that call. And I did it with a PASSION!! Back to Grace and our talk. I told her what I felt and I told her that all I want her to do is pray about it. She knows that calling is there. But in her case, she's going to have to get over the desire to fit in. Leaders don't fit in - THEY STAND OUT!! And she did up until the end of 5th grade. Those little girls and that one teacher are on God's hit list - because they messed with His child and her calling.
One last note - if God is calling you to do something, even if it's just a one time thing or lifelong, DO IT!! Don't be scared, don't run. You're going to be miserable. Take it from two people who know. You're just going to be miserable.
And when you fulfill that call - do it with such a ZEAL and PASSION that people will instantly know that's your calling.
My dad was called to preach. He preached. He ran. He was miserable. He started preaching again. He's amazing. And you know that preaching is his calling because he does it with such passion and zeal. I know another young preacher that has that same zeal and passion for preaching. That's his calling. Mine is playing the piano - I do it with zeal and passion.
Remember: ZEAL and PASSION