The right track....You on it?

Recently I had a friend of mine comment on my face book wall and said I missed my calling. I've had a lot of time to think about that comment and maybe I didn’t miss my calling but I’m not responding to it appropriately. But then I think that maybe I am responding to it just not in the way that I originally thought I was supposed to. With that said, I think my calling hasn’t been developed as well as it could be, thus the subject of this note.

Over the last twenty four years I've felt that my calling was to be a preacher or teacher of sorts. I must say that I've grown up in church and I’ve been raised in the Pentecostal faith. But I've never had a desire to preach or teach...until February 1987. When that happened I didn't hear angels sing or a bright light shine down on me with a voice telling me to "SPREAD THE GOSPEL", but I did feel that I had a gift that God wanted to use. I went to my Pastor and he put me in a Sunday school class room teaching Middle School kids. I felt at home...I felt like I had a purpose and that Pastor understood what I was feeling. And he did know. That’s why what he did for me helped me tremendously over the next few years. I felt like he was developing me or mentoring me to face things he knew I’d face over the next few years.

I'll cut to the chase and skip the next 15 years because during that time period I know that I was being developed and trained by the best. I was given many task and responsibilities. Some I did well with and some, well, let's just say I could have done better. But I was being developed....bottom line.

So what happened? Why am I not preaching across the country or even Pastoring a church? Why am I not standing in front of a group of people every Sunday teaching, training, and developing others? Well, I really don't know, so I'll just say that some of it may be me or my fault and some of it may be the fault of others. However, that should never get in the way. If God truly called me, then I shouldn't let what others think or their ideas or opinions get in the way of what God wants, right? (that’s another issue for a later time.)

I think to many of us get to the point where we put our trust and confidence in the wrong thing. That one thing is spelled S.E.L.F. We get to a point where we think we are ready to hit the streets or the Churches and start preaching, teaching, singing, sharing, or whatever. We also get to a point where we expect MAN to use us because we KNOW we are ready when in actuality we aren't.

I believe that we MUST be accountable to someone. We must have someone in our life that we can trust, talk openly with, discuss the opportunities and failures we face with and above all be accountable to. We must have someone in our life that can give us direction and guide us. We need someone that can speak directly and freely to us because remember; you just received a calling, nothing extra. Your calling was a request from God to use the gift he gave you at birth and the person that you should have leading you is the person that has been where you are and understands the things you're facing. The one thing that God didn't do when he called you was develop the gift inside you, that's what this person will help you do. God opened your eyes to the gift and put a desire in you to use it, but he never developed it into what it could be. That's what we are supposed to do.

How do we develop our gifts? To answer that question I'll ask some others. How does a great violinist develop his talent to play? How does a great vocalist develop his ability to sing? How does a great actor develop a character? They practice, practice, practice! They have mentors in their life that they can call on. These mentors have been through the things that the mentee is facing and they talk with them, they share the experiences and procedures that they used to overcome. Then the discussion, the advice, the suggestions are put into practice. They don't just take the advice and go immediately into Carnegie Hall expecting to play with the orchestra. They don't go directly to the Grand Ole Opry and expect to be put on the next weekend’s bill. No! They develop the talent. They use the advice and practice in a small group or in a small venue. Then as the talent gets bigger and better, so does the venues and groups. The same can be said about developing our calling. Yes, it's been identified that there is one. Yes, it can be said that we have talents and abilities that God has given to us to use for His purpose. But we must be willing to say, I don't know how to develop this gift into what He intended for it to be and then be willing to submit to those who do know.

Who are you leaning on? Who are you allowing to be the mentor that can help you develop the gift God has given you? If the answer is no one then you’re going to be frustrated and eventually give up. Find a mentor and share your calling. When you find them….LISTEN TO THEM….and put it into practice.

Just a thought on a page…..