Trusting God With Your Calling – Devotional

Do you remember what it was like when you first began to swim? Most of us started when we were very young. I remember my mother teaching me to float on my back first. Once I got the buoyancy down, it was a lot easier to trust that I was not going to sink. I could float for a long time, and I knew that I could always go back to just drifting on my back if I went too far into the deep water.

This is kind of what it’s like when you first start to understand what your calling is in God. At first, God takes you out into the shallow water. Then, gradually, He builds trust. He will not send you out into the deep waters before you are ready.

How do you know what your calling is?

It starts with just spending time with Him and letting Him speak to your heart. In my case, we spent hours just talking about the things that I loved, the things in my heart that needed healing, and He started pointing me to areas where I could use my gifts.

God put special gifts inside of all of us — not only for our enjoyment, but also to reach a lost and hurting world. Each gift is like a patchwork quilt of God’s heart. He needs all of us to make the quilt. Each gift compliments the other.

To some He gave the gift of teacher, evangelist, prophetic, apostle, and preacher …

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” — Ephesians 4:11-12

These gifts work inside the church, but you may be surprised to learn that God wants to use them outside the walls of the church.

Do you know what your gift(s) are?

Take a minute or two to spend with God today and let Him speak to your heart about it. It’s very likely you have more than one, and they all work to complement each other — just like the patchwork quilt.

A Prayer for Today

Father, thank You for the gifts You’ve placed inside me. Help me trust You the way I learned to trust the water — a little at a time, until I’m not afraid of the depths. Show me where my gifts fit into Your quilt, and give me courage to use them, inside the church and out. Speak to my heart today, Lord. I’m listening.

Amen.