When Your Calling Seems Beyond Your Capacity, Your Qualifications, or Your Connections

Note: This month I’ve been writing about several beliefs and actions I believe we must hold and do to fully walk in all God has created us to be: Believe you have a calling, accept yourself, and believe your desires are from God. To close out the month, I want to talk about the most important piece to walking in our calling: Trusting God to help us accomplish it.

What dream has God placed in your heart? Is it so big, beautiful or power-packed that you wonder how it will ever come to pass?

It seems that God loves to draw us into things that stretch us beyond what we believe we are capable of. Think Abraham and Sarah having a child, Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, or Gideon rescuing his country from the Midianites.

All these people questioned their ability to fulfill the call on their life. Abraham and Sarah thought they were too old, Moses didn’t think he had the right communication style, and Gideon didn’t think he had the right social standing.

Like our ancient forerunners of faith, if you’re serious about discovering and fulfilling God’s call on your life, there’s bound to come a time when it seems beyond your capacity, your qualifications, or your connections.

But this is actually good news, because an element of the improbable, if not impossible, just might be a sign that you’re on the right track.

I once heard Pastor Bill Johnson say something along these lines: “If you can make it happen on your own, your dream is not big enough.”

He touches on this in his book Manifesto for a Normal Christian Life where he writes, “When the high point of Christian celebration is the fact that we have done something that is humanly possible, something that we can do without God, no matter how noble it is, then we are at a real low point in Christian manifestation and demonstration. Our assignment is to invade the impossible – those things that cannot be accomplished without God.”

When Our Meager Meets His Miraculous

As cool as invading the impossible sounds, it can be unnerving and even scary to do so in the face of our limitations. I have dreams and callings that sometimes look beyond my reach. I know what God has put in my heart, but to be perfectly honest, there are days when I wonder, How on earth will this ever happen?

At these times, I like to remind myself what God said to Sarah when she struggled to believe His promise for a child: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14, NLT).

I also like to remember the story of the boy with the two small loaves and five little fish made famous by Jesus’ miraculous feeding of more than 5,000 people (John 6:9).

One among a multitude, the boy felt the rumble of restlessness as the people grew hungry. But, apparently, he desired to be a part of the solution.

When the child offered his lunch, scant though it was, Jesus multiplied his contribution and satisfied the needs of thousands of people.

Likewise, when my resources (time, money, energy, health, knowledge, etc.) seem limited, I remind myself it doesn’t matter how much I have, but what I do with it. If I give it to Jesus, I can trust that He will do something amazing with it, beyond what I can ask or imagine. Our willingness matters more than our credentials.

Your Participation, God’s Power

If a dream is from God, it can’t be accomplished without Him. Yes, we must be willing and active participants, but it’s His power working through us that makes it happen.

So what calling is stretching you? Maybe it’s homeschooling your kids, starting a business, going to college, or volunteering to mentor teen moms.

Whatever it is, don’t worry if your dream seems bigger than you and your resources. Just like Abraham, Sarah, Moses and Gideon, if God has called you to it, He will help you fulfill it.

And let’s not forget, though our calling is about changing the world around us for the better, ultimately it all comes back to relationship. God first and foremost wants us to know His love and love Him in return. Our co-laboring with Him in our calling is just one more opportunity to go deeper into the great heart of our Father.

With love,

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Meditate

"I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power” (Philippians 4:13, TLB).

Your turn

What do you do to encourage yourself when you start to wonder if you have what it takes to accomplish your dream? I'd love to hear about it (or any related thoughts!) in the comments below!

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P.S.

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