Os Guinness in his book, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life, writes this: “Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.”
That is a mouthful to say the least. However, I believe Os Guinness was putting his finger on something that is central to a focused life and a life where one finishes well.
In terms of a “focused life”, Os Guinness puts our eyes and heart back on the centre of all that there is: God. Oftentimes, we as cross-cultural workers try to fit our lives into the world in which we now find ourselves living, rather than allowing ourselves to be adapted, molded to the new context in which God has placed us. Os Guinness puts it this way: “The truth is not that God is finding us a place for our gifts, but that God has created us and our gifts for a place of his choosing – and we will only be ourselves when we are finally there.” I love final phrase: “we will only be ourselves when we are finally there.”. In effect, Guinness is reminding us that all the joys and struggles of a calling to cross-cultural church planting are part of God’s means to grow us up into Him; to grow us in holiness.
But Guinness also points to calling as a life where one finishes well. Oftentimes a life that does not finish well is one of forgetfulness and loss of gratitude for all that God has done in our lives. Doing a personal ministry timeline is one way of seeing how God has worked in our lives over months and years. Calling is first and foremost a calling to Him, to belong to Him. This we must never forget, for it will lead to a parched soul and a complaining heart.
Calling is a central piece in the narrative of our journey with God. We are where we are because of His call upon our life. And it’s the One who called us who will keep us where He has placed us to serve Him!
Filed under: Calling, Grace, Thankfulness |
Thoughts Along The Journey 
David,
This is one of my favorite ‘go-to’ books when people are considering missions. I love this quote and I love how simply Guinness defines our primary and secondary call. I almost asked you this morning when the next Thoughts would come out, and then this arrived in my inbox.
Have a good day!
Susan
Always appreciated his clarity on the topic. And yes, it’s been awhile, but hopefully I’ll get back on schedule with these Thoughts
“…God has created us and our gifts for a place of his choosing – and we will only be ourselves when we are finally there.” Awakening to this reality (quoted by Guinness) during my initial six-month internship with Radio Lumiere IS what drew me in; culminating in a clear call to cross-cultural ministry at an Urbana conference later that year. I marveled over and again during those months in Haiti at how God had orchestrated my potpourri of work, education and ministry experiences into this…HIS placement. Thank-you for the opportunity to reflect on our CALLINGs in WT.
Thanks for sharing part of your journey! Trust it will be an encouragement to others and to those coaching people towards cross cultural missions.
We need to reflect more often on this topic of calling.
Thank you for reminding us about what is most important.
It is one of those elements of our life and ministry that we often forget: that God calls us to Himself and gifts us for a calling to which He calls us.
A resounding amen! It was such a needed encouragement to remember that “calling is first and foremost a calling to Him”.
Thanks Jordan!