My eldest came back into my room today after her nightime prayer. She was worried about her calling being totally different from what she has set her heart to be or do. Of course, I told her the usual -- "Don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself." I was tired and sleepy, and so was she. I just really needed her to go to her bed at this point and not get worked up about the future.
And yes, it was good advice, especially if it's got her this worked up. I, for one, did not worry about my future. For some reason, I just seem to be really ambitious all the time. From wanting to start my own kindergarten at nine, to wanting to be a millionaire missionary at ten, to wanting to build a campus when I was thirteen, it just kept getting bigger and better, and always more or less on the same line. It was like I saw it coming. And yes, it may seem like different things to the naked eye, but it really was the same thing.
We talked about the differences between gifts, skills and calling, and even the offices of the five fold ministry, and how all those gifts, skills and offices could even have nothing to do with the calling that God has called us into. Yes. Believe it or not. But when the time comes, and there is a flood and you see children drowning, you'll just dive in to save them. It's nothing to do with how good a swimmer you are, or whether you love children. Sometimes, it's like that. When the situation calls for it, you've just got to do it. You just see the need, and have to rise to the occasion -- and it has nothing to do with you at all.
As Christians, we tend to get worked up on ourselves so often like it's all about me and my calling and my ministry and my gifts and my skills that we are blind to what God really needs. It's almost as if the world revolves around us. Just because Noah had to build a boat does not mean he was good with boats or animals. It was because there was a flood and he just had to do what he was called to do. And whatever he couldn't, God filled the gap by causing the animals to come to him instead or giving him three sons and their wives as helpers. Our lives are a partnership between us and God and it's not about us. It is 100% about God and what we can do for Him even with our limitations.
So back to my almost-twelve-year-old, I prayed another short bedtime prayer in regards to this. And then I ended up sharing even more wisdom. I told her that when she draws close to God, she will know His heart, and that she will automatically know what Present to give Him, and she will do everything in her power to achieve it. And that is called a calling.
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