Recently I spoke with a teen young woman about to enter her senior year of high school. She felt pulled in many directions—sports, music, academics, time with family before leaving for college. At one point in our conversation I told her, “You are the complete package—talent, character, beauty, intelligence. Who wouldn’t want you on their team or in their production? You need to decide where you want to focus.”

Do you ever feel the same struggle—competent in many areas and in demand in many areas? Do you feel scattered, unfocused, unfulfilled, and like you aren’t making a difference. Why? Because you are not doing the thing for which you were created and called.

We all have many talents and abilities. I bake a mean chocolate cake and I am a competent seamstress. I’m good with people. I have other talents and aptitudes that I could put to use as I start the last half of my life. But none of the above are my burning passion. None would make me talk incessantly so you would be looking for a way out of our conversation. None make my heart beat faster at the thought of them.

After my relationship to God, my family, and my closest friends, the thing that makes my heart beat faster and I can’t stop thinking about it is my calling from God—the combination of gifts, talents, and passion that God gave me to make a difference in this world.

God made me to write and speak to women to help them know Him better, how much He loves them, and to inspire/challenge them to become the women He designed them to be.
What about you? Do you know what God has put you on earth for? Very few people I talk to know or have even asked God, “What is Your calling for me?”

Here are a few suggestions to start your process:

• Prayer and Passion. This question to God is a great place to start—“What passion, desire, or unmet need is stirring in you right now? If you could clear your schedule of everything but family and job (and your current job may become optional), what would you throw yourself into?”¹ What/who do you really care about? Afterschool programs for underprivileged kids? Single moms? Refugees in the Middle East? Being an entrepreneur—starting a business that will provide jobs, funds, or services to help others? The possibilities are endless. God will make it clear to you.
• Spiritual Gifts—God has given each believer at least one, but usually more than one spiritual gift to use in their calling. “Spiritual gifts are certain abilities or capacities that are unique and God-given.”² Knowing your spiritual gifts is one part of the puzzle in knowing what God made you to do. The spiritual gifts are listed in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, 28, Ephesians 4:11, and Romans 12:6-8.
• Talents—What are you naturally good at? This is another clue to what God made you to do. In high school my best friend, who has a beautiful singing voice, coaxed me into being in the choir. I may actually be tone-deaf! It was a frustrating experience and one I learned from—to never do again! However, as long as I can remember I have had a narrative running through my head, as if I were preparing to give a talk about my day or thoughts. Words are my natural talent. God put them together with my spiritual gifts of teaching, wisdom, and faith and my passion for communicating to women God’s truth and here I am—an author and speaker.

Jesus had a mission from God and by completing it He honored God (John 17:4). Wouldn’t the same be true for us? It is. God expects each of us to do what He gave us life to do (Colossians 4:17).

This will be a process so be patient, but lean in. Ask God what He has for you. Don’t be afraid to hear something that is out of your control, your plans, and your comfort zone. Take it a step at a time with God. He knows how much you can handle.

My book, Princess Unaware: Finding the Fabulous in Every Day, is a great place to start. It has four days of Bible study in the book so you can process with God and His Word what He has for you. I also love Maximizing Your Effectiveness: How to Discover and Develop Your Divine Design by Aubrey Malphurs.

I would love to hear about your journey!

 

1. Brenda Garrison, Princess Unaware: Finding the Fabulous in Every Day (Cincinnati, OH: Standard Publishing, 2009), 138.

2. Aubrey Malphurs, Maximizing Your Effectiveness: How to Discover and Develop Your Divine Design (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1995), 47.

Brenda Garrison is an author and speaker who empowers women with the confidence to live their calling. Brenda is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Ministry Leadership with a Concentration in Women’s Ministry at Moody Bible Institute. She and her husband, Gene, are the parents of three young adult daughters and live near Metamora, IL.