Day: July 24, 2013

Question: Being Called To Something, Or Not

Anonymous asked:

How am I supposed to know when I’m being “called” to something? It doesn’t seem that God calls me to anything, I just work with hit and miss. Is that wrong?

 

Please first allow me the grace to point you to two prior posts —

– Four Thoughts About Finding God’s Will

– No Purpose? No Problem

To answer you more specifically: You are totally okay to try everything until you find something. You don’t have to figure out your life in a day, and certainly not in a couple moments of prayer.

There are some people who figure themselves out “faster,” but we get suffocated when we try to compare how we bloom. I meet too many college students in a culture of “glancing sideways,” from the microcosm of hours put into studying for an exam to the macrocosm of portfolios and resumes and employment opportunities. It’s all a desperate cutthroat race and I completely understand it: but you’ll do a disservice to yourself if you look at others to define your “rate of speed.”

We cannot take our cue of God’s calling from a culture of comparison. I’m reminded of Jesus here: Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you …

Continue reading “Question: Being Called To Something, Or Not” →

Quote: Dig Deep, Get Dirty

If you’re denying your emotions, you’re also denying your humanness. Even the spoiled little princess on the latest reality show gets a fair hearing on why she flipped a desk about getting the wrong-colored car (hint: it’s not about the car, but her emptiness). What’s important then is to examine why this is happening and how to react in the moment.

The truth is that actually battling depression is a messy task of digging deep and getting dirty. That’s why a lot of ignorant ministry workers use half-baked language to escape the gritty work of diving in the deep end. Almost no one naturally moves towards a depressed person because we think, “Well he’s rich, he’s good-looking, she’s got it together, why would she cut herself, why would he be on meds” — and that’s really a way of saying, “I’m too selfish to serve that person. I only serve people that are nice and clean and pure. I’m too lazy to understand.”

It was Jesus who stepped into the mess without qualifying anyone, and he calls us to do the same. He didn’t just tell us that our sin-broken condition is bad: he showed us a way out and a path forward towards him, to the greatest joy. If you can help someone make even a step in that journey, they will be grateful forever.




— J.S. from this post