3 Reasons We Struggle to Live Out Our Callings

women sitting on a dock looking at water

I’ve struggled with writing over the past several months and questioned my calling. Frankly, I’ve wondered if it’s worth it. I guess you can say that I lost sight of my “why.”

It’s taken me just as long to write this blog post because I’ve had to search my heart and wrestle with some hard questions. Many times I’m not able to serve you without going through war myself.

Whoever thought it was a good idea to release a book AND start the adoption process in the same year totally lost their marbles! Hello, spiritual warfare!

I’ve been scared and apprehensive about every decision I make and every sentence I write. As I’ve wrestled and questioned, and continued to show up, God has pursued me and shown me His sweet love for me.

I know I’m not alone. We all have things that make us want to run and hide from our callings.

1. We run from failure.

We want mountaintop moments without all of the hard junk that comes during the journey to the top.

Wouldn’t it be nice for God to call us and for it to go smoothly?

We live in a world clamoring for perfection and overnight success. We see highlight reels on social media and usually only hear about other people’s mountaintop moments.

We rarely hear about or give attention to the desert days (or more likely years) of someone’s life, the years where they failed miserably and wanted to give up on their calling.

Once we’re called, we want it to be different for us. We want it to be easy and without failure, so our pride doesn’t take a hit. We so badly want God to be glorified through a perfectly paved road to the top without any bumps or potholes.

I’m learning how much glory God gets when we flat out fail. It shows my dependence on Him and how He can make beauty from our messes.

Take Moses for example. He was so concerned at failing at public speaking. Exodus 4:10 Moses says to the Lord:

“Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” (NIV)

He continually fought God on his fear of public speaking and God eventually sent Aaron to speak for Moses.