CALLING.

 In one of my classes here at CGA we are learning what it means to have a "Calling" on our lives.   In Christian circles we costantly hear the words " What is God's calling on your life?" and constantly speak the words "Well I'm trying to figure out what my life's calling is".  In order to learn our calling we first must know what the word CALL even means!

    If you were to type the word CALLING into Merriam Websters search engine these are the top two definitions you would find.

Calling: 1. A strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine action.

Calling: 2. The vocation or profession in which one customarily engages. 

Our class professor (Neil) asked us to ask the Lord what He thought the definition of CALLING was. After seeking the Lord this is what we came up with.

Calling –  How God has uniquely fit YOUR heart for HIS kingdom.

Everyone of us have a heart, so everyone of us have a calling.

There are three different types of calling that the Lord has for each of us.

The First Call is the Calling Of DISCIPLE
A disciple is someone who declares the Good News of Jesus Christ to everyone around Him. Being a disciple of Christ doesn't always look like packing your bags and leaving for some remote jungle, sometimes that's what it means…but not always.

Being a disciple is something that we can do in our everyday life. It' can look like being a good friend to someone, helping those less fortunate then us, being a good employee/employer, sharing your testimony with others. Sometimes we never even have to speak a word about God to be a disciple, sometimes its just a simple action like a hug or a smile that can show the love of Christ in you.

The Second Call is the Immediate Calling.
Our Immediate Calling is a day to day one. It basically is whatever the Lord is telling you to do with your day THAT DAY! If He says " Emily today I want you to spend the whole day with me in the woods" or " Emily I want you to do random acts of kindess for people today" then that is my immediate calling for the day. Sometimes He has multiple immediate callings for you in one day.

It's funny because I have never really thought that God might have a daily calling for us. Since I found out about this specifc calling is has been really fun to see what the Lord has for me each day, and super cool to see how different each day's calling is! 🙂

The Third Call is the Specific Calling.
This is when the Lord reveals a Life Calling to you, something that He designed you for. He may call you to be a missionary to a foreign country, or to be the Founder of an organization that fights Human Trafficking, or maybe your the person that He calls to actually go and pull the men, women, and children out of the trafficking that they are slaves in. He may call you to be a pastor, an Architect , a Doctor, a Chef, A Mother. Whatever your Specifc Calling is, if the Lord has chosen to reveal it to you then don't let it go to waste! Fight for your calling and Live It Out!

Now that I know what Calling means I want to know what mine is! I spent a lot of time seeking God and asking Him, " Lord what is my life's calling?". 

Would you like to know what answer the Lord gave me?

 The Lord spoke these words specifically to me… " Little Emily, your lifes calling is to keep in alignment with Me."  " I have good things for you, Places to send you, Words for you to speak out, Love to pour out of you onto others."  " When your Spirt is in alignment with mine, then these things will begin".

Honestly this was hard for me to swallow at first. I was really hoping for a specific assignment, country, timeline, but sometimes that's not what God has planned for us.
 Once I accepted this answer from the Lord, I realized that there was nothing more to do but begin to do what He callled me to do. Align myself with Him.

What does that look like you may ask?

For me it has been giving up all of my plans, surrendering things like my desire to be a girlfriend,wife, and a mother one day over to Him. Allowing Him to become my lover, Him to guide my steps, Him to comfort and hold me when I'm broken, Him as my Strength, my Shelter, my Provider. Getting into His word more, spending more time with Him whether its through journaling, walking in nature, Singing, Praying, or even just BEING with Him.

I cannot even begin to express to you the JOY and PEACE that I have found when I choose to daily surrender my life to HIM.

This is my calling. Maybe it will stay the same, maybe one day it will change. But that's not what matters to me, No what matters is that I am finally starting to understand and live out my calling.