Your IT may be different to mine. In fact, I hope that it is. A big problem that people have in general, and even sadly those who follow Christ, is that they are chasing everyone else’s IT and coming up empty.
You have a unique calling from your Heavenly Father, one that no one else can completely fulfil or furnish. It is shaped for your original personality, fashioned for your unique skill set, and sealed with your name on the doorway.
So why are you tiring yourself chasing someone else’s dream of what you should be?
I have witnessed two main killers of calling in my own life, and two main reasons I spent many years chasing my tail in business and marriage and other arenas of the fight we call life.
Laziness and insecurity.
Lazy Way
Laziness is a killer. It leads to a passive, unquestioning leaning to what the crowd is calling for. Crucify him! Crucify Him! And there we are in the midst of the masses offering our silent (and sometimes loud) consent.
We crucify the calling on our own lives when we fail to question why we do the things that we do.
We fall into the dangerous trap of living by default, not design.
It is hard to ask real questions of ourselves, even harder to give honest answers, and harder still to act on our answers when they come.
That’s why many people live unquestioning lives, never challenging the status quo.
Don’t misunderstand me here either. I’m not talking about kicking against everyone and everything else when I talk of challenging the status quo. I am flatly speaking about challenging the armistice you have declared over your own life, where you no longer fight for what you know to be true and of real value.
It takes guts to make decisions that lean to your true life calling. IT Will require sacrificing some comforts and securities to be the artist or the writer, the minister, the business man or woman, husband, wife, father, mother, lover or friend you are called to be.
The alternative is far more terrifying however. A slow death to your dreams.
Danger! Danger!
I could say that there is no harm or danger in asking a question, but there is! The danger is that you will be challenged to make changes that lead you toward your destiny, with all of the attendant hardships that this may entail.
It will mean pushing against your comfort zones in every direction until you finally and honestly say, “This is who I am, and this is what I am called to do. This is how I will make a difference!”
I am a writer.
You would be shocked how few people will read these words.
You are part of a select few on the planet. Congratulations!
Should I quit because the audience in the early days of my destiny is minuscule? Or do I realise that the many thousands of unread and uncelebrated words are the sure pathway to a global audience and millions of lives touched and changed. That these musings and wrestlings on the white canvas are carving through my own jungle of fears until I stand on my peak and preach to the world?
The way is sometimes hard and lonely. It is hampered by naysayers and self doubt. But hard questioned hard answered and hard acted upon honesty has a resilience that overcomes the challenges and continues in the face of setbacks.
I am a writer. Called to reach multitudes and deeply touch the hearts of millions of readers.
9,999,995 may not realise it yet, but I’m on my way.
Insecurity
Sometimes we look at others and think that they do not share our ego bound struggles. The inner wrestling with self image that questions our every step. Maybe I am just trying to make myself feel better by attributing my own fears to most others too, but I don’t think so.
Making creative strides forward (often crawling on our hands and knees) can be frightening.
What if it doesn’t work? What if I build it and no one comes? What if? What if?
Ask yourself instead, what if I carry on doing exactly what I am doing today and never make a change? Does my current trajectory in life (and that means what I choose to do every single day) point to when I want to be two, five, ten years from now?
Reasonable or Remarkable?
Sometimes, often times, our fears are unfounded. Other times they are very valid and absolutely reasonable. But do you want to lead a reasonable life, or a remarkable one?
Remarkable results are the produce of purposeful action. Value based, unflinching commitment to calling. An acceptance that if I fail to make changes today, my tomorrow will be much like my present.
Friend, if you have even read this far, let me encourage you. You can do IT. Whatever your IT may be. Make moves toward seeing it come to fruition.
Small changes, consistent pressure in one direction toward your dream, can lead to a transformed reality – one that most people only yearn for – a calling that will gradually and intentionally transform into your day to day reality – a reality that aligns perfectly with your unique place in Papa’s heart and plan.
Go for IT!
What is your IT? Comment below as a way to kick insecurity in the teeth!
