Why You Need to Be Confident in Your Calling from God

Inside: why you need to be confident in your calling from God

If you have browsed around my blog for any length of time, you know that I seem to write an awful lot about the call God puts on our lives.

I’m not entirely sure why this is the case. I guess because I want you, dear reader, to be confident in your call from God. I want you to be encouraged and go forth in faith and do what He has laid on your heart to do.

And I’ll be the first to tell you, friend, sometimes taking that first step of faith is hard.

It’s scary. It’s nerve wracking. And it can be downright paralyzing if you let fear get the best of you. (Which, by the way, is exactly what the enemy of our souls wants to happen. Not today, Satan. Not. today.)

If this is where you currently are, stuck in fear of your calling, take heart, my friend. You’re in good company.

But, you can’t stay there and here’s why.

Before we get too far, let’s talk about a major player in the Gospel. You’ve probably heard of him a time or two if you’re a Bible reader of any kind. Any guesses of who I’m talking about?

Yup, Paul.

Paul’s Calling From God

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’ve been spending quite a while studying Acts. I’ve read Acts a dozen times, but this time just feels different. Almost like I’m reading it for the first time.

In Acts 22, we find Paul speaking to the Jewish people, yet again. I say “yet again” because Paul constantly spoke with the Jewish people trying to persuade them of Jesus Christ’s death, resurrection, and His gift of everlasting salvation. But, in Acts 22, specifically, Paul has been arrested and is trying to make his case.

If you read through the chapter, you’ll see Paul’s complete story of how held the coats of those who murdered Stephen, how he encountered the Lord on the road to Damascus, and how the answered the calling from God.

We know Paul to have been extremely bold in his faith, never backing down when it came to questions about the Lord and salvation. He seemed to always be ready to lay his life down at a moment’s notice for the Kingdom of God. He is even credited with writing most of the New Testament.

Seems to me that Paul is like a super Christian or something, right?

But, it’s the end(ish) of chapter 22 that stood out to me.

Paul says, “And I said, Lord, they knew that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: And when the blood of the martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death. and kept the raiment of them that slew him.” (Acts 22:19 – 20).

Do Not Doubt Your Calling

Did you catch that? Go back and read it again and see if you see what I see.

Paul was not always confident in his calling from God.

Before Paul became Paul, he was Saul, a man that did some pretty evil deeds. Maybe he wasn’t out physically killing people, but he had a major part in the demise of some of the early Christians. That major part he played gave him a pretty terrible reputation, too.

I mean, if I had seen Saul coming, I probably would have ran in the other direction, no doubt.

But, God.

God saw fit to use Paul (or, err, Saul) to further the kingdom of the Lord. God cleaned up his heart and set Paul on a different course to spread the Gospel.

But, still, there was a small part of him that was not confident in his calling from God. Hence, verses 19 and 20. Paul knew that the Jewish people and those in and around Jerusalem knew his past and evil deeds. Even though nothing is impossible with the Lord, he still felt like his past was putting a major damper on his calling.

What did the Lord do? He basically told him to get up and go preach anyway.

“And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far from hence unto the Gentiles.” (Acts 22:21)

Bravely Step Into Your Calling

And, so he did. Paul preached anyway.

He preached despite his past. He preached despite what others might have thought. And he preached to anyone and everyone that would listen.

Paul ran bravely and boldly to his calling from God.

You see, friend, it’s okay to be nervous about your calling. It’s okay to feel a little uneasy or unsure about it.

But, it is not okay to let that nervousness and that uneasiness keep you from doing what God has asked you to do.

If God has called you to do something, your past does not matter. God isn’t looking at your past, He is looking at your future.

Sure, others might have something to say about what you are doing for the Lord. But, let me let you in on a little secret: their opinions do not matter.

God has put a call upon your life for a reason. Step boldly into it and let the Lord work.

Shine bright, my friend!

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