Monday, October 14, 2013

Calling - IX

At this point, walking out one’s calling lies entirely in the imagination. We have an idea about where our energies should be focused. The next suggested step is to imagine life in the future. Imagine if one’s call works out ideally, what would one’s life look like? How would one’s relationship with God be like? Marriage? Family? Church? Neighbors? What fruit would be borne? What self-image?

If a person can see where he is supposed to wind up, then he can begin to plan how he is supposed to get there. He can develop a strategy. Does he need to alter his approach to God? His family? Work? Does he need further education? Does he need to stop certain activities? Start certain activities?

As you can see, this all sits inside one’s imagination. Having a big picture of who you are and what you should become is not a bad thing. A person’s imagination is a powerful tool. Everything, good or bad, big or small, began in someone’s imagination.  The real trick is getting the contents of one’s imagination and making it real.

This is usually where living out one’s calling fails. It would be nice if we could jump straight to that idealistic future. But we can’t. We need to walk the first baby steps. We need to work through the intermediate steps. There is much praying and much planning. And there is too much expectation in many people for quick results.

Walking out God’s call on our lives at this point begins to become work. But without the work, we will never reach that future, and never experience the joy of being in the optimal place of God’s will.

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