How to Find Your Calling

When we graduate from college, we’re convinced that we need to have every step of our lives planned out. There’s a pressure that builds inside of us to choose some path, and as believers, we want to choose God’s plan for our lives.

But God’s plan isn’t often found in extensive contemplation. It’s found in active engagement.

God slowly revealed my calling to work among the unreached over many years of my life … through small, individual steps of obedience.

After making the decision to follow Christ, I was first called to simply attend the Urbana conference where the plight of the world’s lost first moved me deeply. My next step was to go on short-term mission trips. Then after getting married, we found our next steps in more mission trips.

I knew that the Lord had commanded us all to bear witness to Him, and I felt His call over and over to engage with overseas ministry through short-term missions. And it was during one of the several mission trips I took that I eventually found my specific calling for the unreached .

Fast forward to today; I have been at East-West for 18 years, but the Lord worked on my heart for decades before bringing me into my lifetime calling. It took full surrender to God and His will along with faithful service and obedience to engage in new opportunities to find that calling.

Who is called to be a missionary?

I didn’t get the full picture when I went to my first conference, graduated college, or even on my first mission trip. What I got was the opportunity to obey one step at a time … and that’s how the Lord works in us all. 

We are all called to participate in God’s work throughout the nations in some capacity. It’s a command to make disciples of every nation that came straight from our Savior.

When we think of our calling to participate in God’s mission at home or overseas, we usually find ourselves looking again for that big picture that God may not yet be ready to reveal to us. So I want us to think differently about how a missionary calling works.

Our Founder John Maisel once said, “People ask, ‘What’s God’s will for me?’ But that’s the wrong question. The right question is, ‘What is God’s will and how can I be a part of it?’” What we should be asking is, “How can I participate in God’s already revealed will?”

We know that God asks us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, and we are all commanded to be part of this purpose in some substantial way.

God calls us to pray.

God calls us to give.

God calls us to go.

And God calls all of us to be witnesses of Jesus Christ.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” - Acts 1:8

No matter the setting, you are called to be on mission for Him. We must not lose sight of God’s basic calling for our lives.

How do we find our role?

To find what God wants for you, you need to focus on the next step rather than the finish line. Finding God’s calling for your life requires action, so here are a few ways you can begin to discern your specific calling.

• God cannot steer a parked car. By engaging in faithful service, we are more likely to hear God’s voice than if we are just waiting. If you are faithful in little, you will be faithful in much. As we are obedient, God’s calling will be clarified.

• Be careful of analysis paralysis. You have to fully surrender. Ask God, “Am I yielded to Your will? What do You want me to do?” Look for new opportunities and situations that tug at your heart and take your next step.

If you’re considering a life in full-time mission work, start with praying for the lost and the unreached. Then step out on a short-term or mid-term trip overseas as you feel led to specific nations, peoples, or cultures.

The Lord will order your next right step. You need only to have patience with His plan and be willing to take the next step once it is revealed to you.