Defining a calling

A calling is a divine appointment given by God to an individual for a specific purpose or mission. It is characterized by uniqueness, purpose, direction, and strength, and can take various forms, including vocational, ministry, and life mission callings. -- Llama 3.1

People want to know how they can find their spiritual callings, i.e. what God is calling them to do with their lives. They want to know the one, grand purpose God has for them, the one dominant spiritual gift that will reach hundreds or thousands or millions... In popular Christian culture, it is usually the people who find their niche and stay there for years who get the attention. Major para-church leaders, musicians, and evangelists often spend decades working at and perfecting the one area in which God has called them to serve. -- Got Questions

Superpowers

Some would refer to God's gifts as special "superpowers" that would enable a "hero" to complete his or her special "calling". Scriptures like Romans 12:4-6, 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, Ephesians 2:10 or 1 Peter 4:10 are often quoted out of context. These "gifts" that the apostles mention, are powers of the Holy Spirit which could potentially operate in every believer. The purpose of these "gifts" are not intended for our own glory but to take care of the body of Christ and to build the Kingdom of God.

Quests

Some would refer to God's commands to specific individuals as a special "quests". In other words, if they fail their "quest", they failed their purpose.

While it is true, that if the Lord gives you a special command, you need to obey the Lord, otherwise He is not your Lord. However, unlike "quests", the outcome of your task not determined by your own strength or abilities. God's word always prevail regardless of the individual's attitude and failures.

Examples

Result of compromising

• Eve: Her "calling" was made harder with birth pain (Genesis 3:16). However, Eve was still able to deliver children to Adam.
• Adam: Technically Adam was not removed because he failed his "calling", but was given another piece of field to complete his "calling". Instead of the abundant garden, Adam had to work the field outside the garden in pain to provide food for his family (Genesis 3:17-19).
• Abraham & Sarah: Initially they tried to fulfill their calling with the help of a concubine woman to delivery a child on behalf of Sarah (Genesis 16:1-4). This resulted in contempt (Genesis 16:4-6) and the birth of Ismael the forefather of the Arabs. However, despite their unfaithfulness towards God's promise, God still kept his promise such that Sarah eventually had her own son.
• Jacob: Cheated his father and brother to get a blessing to fulfill his calling (Genesis 27). This incident caused Jacob's father to sent him away (Genesis 28:5) and forced Jacob to live in fear of Esau (Genesis 32-33). However, despite Jacob living in exile, Jacob was still blessed to become Israel.

A godly desire that lead to a calling

Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem...

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.”

And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

-- Nehemiah 2:12,17-18 (ESV)

There are no record of any special visions, dreams, signs or miracles that Nehemiah experienced other than favour from the king and queen. Yet, Nehemiah felt that "God had put into his heart" a desire to rebuilt Jerusalem. Because he trusted that this desire is inline with God's will he had the courage to undertake this massive task.

Circumstances that lead to a calling

Sometimes circumstances outside an individual's control leads the person to take up a "calling".

For example, God did not speak directly to Esther nor given her any specials signs, yet Mordecai send Esther the message:

“Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” -- Esther 4:13-14 (ESV)

Esther's position enabled her to save the Jews. One could argue that this was her purpose or "calling". However, there was a high risk that the king would not approve her action and this could have cost Esther her life.

Another example is the situation where Deborah said to Barak "Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you...". In English, this implies that he ignored a previous command from God. However, some argue this is a typical rhetorical Hebrew question that does not necessary mean Barak had any former commands.

Either way, Deborah was the judge (leader) of Israel who had the authority from God to order Barak to obey her prophecy (Judges 4:4-16). These circumstance lead Barak to receive a "calling" to free Israel.

(This single incident is no proof that it is normal for God to command men through women. Many scriptures rather state that women should submit to men even when the man is "spiritually weaker", for example: Genesis 3:16; 1 Corinthians 11:3; Colossians 3:18; Ephesians 5:22; 1 Peter 3:1)

Conclusion

• Often God choose the most unlikely candidate to complete God's task, because they often lacked the necessary reputation, resources, strategy or courage.
• None of these individuals were seeking their "calling". Circumstance often lead them to discovered it unexpectedly.
• None of these individuals had to do anything special to receive a "calling" from God. Some of them was not even born yet.
• None of these individuals had to wonder what their "callings" were or what exactly God expected from them. Their commands were clear and there were no room of error or "not hearing God's voice correctly". All of these individuals witnessed unnatural signs from God to confirm their "calling".
• In all cases God provided all the necessary favour, resources, strategy and support for these individuals to complete their "callings".
• In all cases God's will prevailed despite these individuals own mistakes, attitude or doubt.
• In most cases the individuals also desired to fulfill their God given purposes but in their own strength they failed, for example:
  • Abraham tried to obtain a child by a concubine when Sarah failed to conceive.
  • Jacob cheated his family for a blessing to become a strong nation.
  • Moses murdered an Egyptian to recue a Hebrew slave.
  • Samson seeked personal revenge on the Philistines at the cost of his own life.
• We do not have to be limited to a single calling. For example Adam, Noah, Abraham and Jesus had multiple "callings".

There are no scripture that place any responsibility on any person to seek God's special "calling" for his or her life. Usually the "calling" finds an individual in the most unexpected ways and is usually inline with the person's own desire such that the person is willing to risk his or her own life to complete the task.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. -- Matthew 6:33 (ESV), Luke 12:31

The Gospel encourage us to:

1. live a holy life (1 Peter 1:15-16; John 15:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7),
2. serve other in humility (Matthew 22:37-40; Galatians 5:13; Philippians 2:3-4),
3. teach the gospel (1 Peter 3:15),
4. make disciples (Matthew 5:13-16; 28:18-20),
5. be good stewards (1 Corinthians 4:2)
6. pray and interceded (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
7. be thankful (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

These are the things that we should desire and seek and then God will lead us upon our "calling" whether we realize it or not.