This is a question we've all had and currently have and will probably continue to have to flesh out for the rest of our lives. It's multi-faceted and layered. It's not just a job or a passion. It's both of those things, and it shifts in seasons and places. It's not necessarily one definitive answer that you are going to lock down—it might be, at times. But I promise you, it's not some magic formula God is holding hostage, making you guess until you get it exactly right.
Let’s start with the first verses that pop up when you Google “Bible” + “calling"…
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.”
Romans 8:28-30 NLT
We are...
Called by God. For God.
Called to be like Jesus.
Called to be with God.
We can't escape this part of the call. And it can seem like a given, but it's important.
There is no calling or gifting that you are going to successfully carry out without Him.
You may get a little ahead in your own strength, but you won't have any life-changing, resurrecting or eternal impact by yourself.
And we are not only called to Him, but we are called by His name.
“...if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV
We carry His name in our calling. What we do is in His name. It matters. That's why this "calling" thing is a big deal. That’s why it’s important to ask the question: What is my calling?
Your call, first and foremost, is your calling into a relationship with God through Jesus. That's "the calling." After that, and out of that overflow, is an individual calling for each of us that is unique to our gifting, personality, passion, and conviction.
In our quest to answer this question, a good place to start is Ephesians 1. Because I think we've lost a little bit of who we are—our identity, our standing, our status. We need to know who we are before we can know what we are to do.
Ephesians 1:1-14 is one long run-on sentence in the Greek—that's why it feels like Paul never takes a breath. It's one long sentence praising God for his redemptive plan. And that plan includes us.
We are going to work our way through this chapter verse-by-verse like a bible study because I believe it holds some keys to the calling we are desperately looking for.
Ephesians 1:3-23
3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”
-- "heavenly places": Where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God.
-- We have also been raised up with Him (Ephesians 2:6 tells us) and are seated with Him.
-- Not only are we given access to every spiritual thing we might need, but we are placed in position with Christ.
-- We are given proximity AND access.
-- Because Jesus is currently reigning in heavenly places at the right hand of God, we have access to that power in our lives right now!
But maybe you're like, "Not me though..."
4 ”even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love”
-- "chose" here is the same "chose" used when referring to God and Israel.
-- "He chose us": meaning He chose you before there was even a you. Before the "you" that would mess up, before the "you" that would deny him, before the "you" that would choose other things over Him—He. Chose. You.
-- Before the foundation of the world He chose us, then we were given the choice to respond to Him. So that we can be...
-- "holy and blameless": set apart, valuable, protected
-- Think about what you own that's most valuable to you (a pair of shoes, item of clothing, piece of tech, a ring, etc.), how do you take care of it, protect it, set it apart from your other things?
-- He chose us to set us apart as His prized possession.
Even more than that...
5 “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will...”
-- "He predestined us": meaning our divine destiny (this elusive calling) was set by God when He chose us.
-- And that destiny was to be adopted by Him as His sons and daughters.
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Galatians 4:4-7 ESV
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”
Romans 8:15 ESV
-- The opposite of being adopted as safe and secure sons/daughters is that of fearful slaves
-- We have the same access to God that Jesus has!
-- Because Jesus stood in our place, we can now stand in His place as a child of God.
-- "according to the purpose of His will": means because He wants to.
-- Some translations include "in accordance with His pleasure and will" (NIV)
-- He didn't just set up some plan for your rescue and your calling because He can, in some sort of disconnected way —no, He wanted to adopt you, He wanted to call you, He wants to use you.
6 “to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
-- This is how He gets the most praise, in using us.
-- He could just do it all himself if He wanted, he's God. But He enjoys choosing and using you.
-- This grace He has poured on us evokes our praise and His glory.
-- "the Beloved": refers to Jesus, the one the Father loves.
-- The same term is also used for Israel as God's chosen people.
This is crazy to me: God's love for Jesus is the same love for me.
Speaking of Christ...
7 ”In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”
-- Because of Jesus, we get two things: redemption and forgiveness.
-- The verb tense used here means "we have and are still having."
-- Redemption and forgiveness are continuous.
-- "Redemption" = we are continually being released because He paid the price with His blood.
-- "Forgiveness" = we are continually being freed from our sinful acts.
-- "According to the riches of his grace" is one of Paul's favorite phrases, used 6 times in Ephesians.
These riches...
8 “which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight”
-- "lavished": God always gives generously, He isn't stingy, He holds nothing back.
-- Not only does He pour out grace upon grace, but every kind of wisdom and insight.
-- "wisdom" = the knowledge which sees into the heart of things, which knows them as they really are.
-- "insight" = the understanding and discernment that leads to right action.
-- Both of these are included in what's given to us through Jesus, and these spiritual blessings we already have access to in the heavenly places.
9 “making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ”
-- In Jesus, God's will was made known; we don't have to guess when it comes to His will.
-- This redemptive plan that we've worked through so far in this passage is now known to us; we don't have to wonder.
-- "purpose" again also includes his "pleasure"
This is what He wanted to do…
10 “as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
-- And this plan is bigger than just us—His ultimate plan is to unite all things, that includes heaven, earth, creation, everything.
-- The original harmony of the universe will be restored under Christ.
And we have a part to play in that today!
11 “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”
-- Our inheritance is Christ, and everything He has been given by the Father. His right standing, His glory, His blessing, etc.
-- It's yours. And it's yours to share. This is the treasure we carry. This is what we are called to steward.
-- It's a reminder that we were chosen to carry this plan into the world on behalf of the One who does the work.
-- I love this part—God works all things, not some things, not just the big things, but ALL things within His will.
When you're lying awake, worried about work. When you're desperately asking Him to reveal your calling to you. When you're praying for your next step of obedience, He is working it. He is working all of it. And he is working it into the best possible outcome. What you think or imagine it might be, His way is better.
-- We can trust Him to work his will in all things.
13 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
-- He didn't leave us alone to try to figure it out by ourselves.
-- "sealed" has several meanings and they are all so good...1) wax seals were used to certify the genuineness of a document 2) it was also stamped onto goods being shipped to indicate ownership and ensure protection 3) it also represented a designation of office in service to the king.
-- For us, this Holy Spirit "seal" is an inward mark of God's ownership and protection of us.
As we move forward in what God has called us to do, we are certified carriers of this Message, and we are protected in our steps.
-- Not only that, He is the "guarantee" or down payment/deposit (similar to an engagement ring) of our inheritance in Christ.
-- The Spirit is the assurance that these things will one day be ours.
15 “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,”
Because of all of this, Paul prays a prayer for them…
17 “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
I just couldn't break that scripture up...
"that God may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation..."
This is what we're asking for, isn't it? We want the wisdom to know what He's called us to. We want the revelation (or discernment and insight) into what our purpose is.
But I love how He anchors us back in what really matters... "in the knowledge of Him"—it's all to know Him more completely.
The calling is to know him
The word used for knowledge literally means "the fullness of knowledge acquired through personal acquaintance."
I think this is what we are missing. And please, don't dismiss this. Take a look into your heart and desires:
Are you desperate to know your calling so that...
You can move ahead
You can know what job to apply for
You can hold your head high
You can feel secure
You can prove someone wrong
I know I have wanted it for those reasons. I wanted to know for sure my calling and start walking in it because I wanted to prove people wrong. I wanted to use my calling as some sort of weapon to fight the lies of the enemy.
But my calling is to know Him. The goal is to grow in my intimate knowledge of Him. I won't put together all the other pieces of my purpose or calling without Him as my aim.
Verse 18 is my favorite part of this chapter. It comes on the heels of the call to know Him more...
18 “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you..."
-- The Spirit in us, leads us to be able to discern all that God has made available to us.
-- "calling" here is a pledge of hope—it has already taken place (we've been called) and is ongoing (we are being called) and it looks to the future.
-- We already have available to us everything we need. The inheritance is ours. That's the hope of the calling.
On top of that...
19 “and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places...”
-- We already have the power to do it.
-- We aren't responsible for finding the power, stirring it up, or figuring out how to get it. He did all of that.
-- All those verbs are His: "working,” "worked," “raised,” and “seated.”
-- This power is based on the resurrection of Jesus.
And that’s the ultimate power, right? We're talking death to life power—we have access to it! It's seated in Jesus at the right hand of God, above every other ruler or authority this universe could come up with. And WE are seated with Him...Mind. Blowing.
God chose you and He chose your calling. It matters.
It's supernatural, other-worldly, and weighty.
That's why Paul writes later in Ephesians:
“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.”
Ephesians 4:1 NLT
I know you want to know what you’re called to do. I know it feels mysterious and elusive at times. But you can know today that you are called into a relationship with God first and foremost, you have access to him as your Father, He is working everything in your life according to His plan and purpose, and His resurrection power is available to you even now. That’s a pretty great place to start.
