Orientation Recap
In my three previous posts I introduced this series by telling of how, some years ago, I found myself lost in the Adirondacks during a time of winter backpacking. Finding my way to camp meant regaining my orientation.
The same holds true for life. As noted calling expert, Gary Barkalow admonishes, relying on the reference points of story, desire, and journey helps us stay oriented to our calling.
Part 1 of the series dealt with story. You have been given a weighty purpose, an intensely personal, unique role within God’s Great Story.
Part 2 talked about desire. The God who made you in his image provides hints as to your calling through your heart’s desires.
Part 3 touched on journey. The progression of where you have been, to where you are now, and then to where you will yet be is a journey of overcoming and becoming.
But there is still another important reference point to help us in living our calling: revelation.
Revelation
“God being who he is, and now revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, we should be surprised if he did not speak to us… It is simply beyond belief that two persons so intimately related, as indicated by Jesus in his answer to Thaddeus (John 14:23), would not speak with each other. The Spirit that inhabits us is not dumb, restricting himself to an occasional nudge, a brilliant image, or a case of goose bumps.” Dallas Willard
There is mystery to life. In abundance! As the apostle Paul aptly conveyed, we see dimly and much of life remains a riddle. But there are times of God’s choosing—the Bible is full of examples—where he speaks out of a depth of personal intimacy to his beloved ones. As Gary Barkalow says, “God wants to be intimately involved in our journeys of becoming, and because of His desire for our lives to become what they were destined to be, He must and will speak to us personally.”
God give us ears to hear!
In your pursuit of calling you need to:
- Recognize that God has created you with a purpose unique to who you are, a life’s purpose that displays his glory and connects you to your role in his Great Story.
- Acknowledge that your heart’s desires offer compelling hints as to your purpose.
- Understand that the transformation of these desires into effective expressions of your calling is a process over time, a journey of overcoming and becoming.
- Appreciate the role of revelation, passionately nurturing the “conversational” intimacy open to you through the Spirit.
Story, combined with desire and journey and enhanced by revelation, serve as complimenting points of reference beckoning you out of the wilderness to grasp hold of your life’s purpose and live your calling.
Michael
Does calling play the definitive role in your life it should?
Better understand what calling is and why it is so important with our Calling Primer. Download it for free.