During October of 2025, Living Way Church had a series of messages focused on “calling.” I preached the first of these sermons, which was titled “My Calling, Your Calling, and Our Calling.” You can listen to that message below or by clicking HERE:
My goal in the sermon was to demystify the idea of calling, which can feel like something for “special” people. The truth is, however, that we are all called to something. I have a calling, you have a calling, and we all, as believers, have a shared calling. Churches, too, have callings as local families of believers. God gives certain graces to certain churches to play a part in the broader work of the kingdom of God. Additionally, every Christian is called to an identity in Christ, a vocation in life, and a mission in the kingdom.
In a conversation after this sermon, I realized that many of us struggle with our particular calling, or vocation. The question goes something like this: “Is what I am doing with my life right now really my calling?” This question can feel unsettling when we can’t give a confident answer. So, I want to give you some tools to assess your calling.
Trust God Where You Are
First, you need to trust God right where you are today. If you believe in God’s providence, you must accept that there’s a reason you ended up where you are today. Yes, you made several decisions along the way that got you here. But if you are a child of God, he has been working all things for your good (Romans 8:28).
What’s important here is that you do not want to doubt your vocation or try to change your vocation from a place of unholy discontentment. Disappointments, setbacks, and frustrations in your vocation do not mean that you missed God’s calling for your life.
Before you go down the path of a vocation change, you need to address your own heart. Ask God to work the kind of contentment that can do anything through Christ who strengthens you (Philippians 4:11-13). You can even show up to do a job you really don’t like at the moment!
So, the step before step one is to assess your contentment in Christ. Make sure you trust God where you are today. If you don’t trust him now, changing your circumstances will be like putting duct tape on something that needs to be welded together.
Steps to Assess Your Calling
If you determine that you are content in Christ but there’s still something new stirring in your soul, then I recommend looking at the following three factors to assess where God might be calling you.
1. Inner Sense of Calling
The first step is to identify specifically what you think the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about your calling. How long have you felt this way? When did you first feel called this way? Are you able to shake this off or not?
Set aside significant time for prayer and seek God. I recommend that you journal answers to the questions above and anything else that you want to ask God or feel that you are hearing from Him.
In my experience, a calling begins in an individual’s heart. There is something God puts in us or speaks to us that becomes a part of who we are and who we become. The callings of Abraham, Moses, David, and Paul are great examples of this. The call came, and then over time, they walked into that calling. They all knew who God had made them to be, and then they became those men as they followed the Lord.
There’s nothing that can replace this individual, internal sense of calling. If you know God has given you a calling, you will endure even when things get hard. You will be willing to sacrifice because you want to be obedient to him. You will know that somehow, things are going to work out, even if it doesn’t make sense right now.
2. External Confirmation: Your Spouse, Friends, or Family
The next step is to test your inner sense of calling with those who are closest to you. If you are married, the first person you should get feedback from is your spouse. If they don’t see the calling you think you see in yourself, you already have an issue. This doesn’t mean it’s not a real calling, but it likely means that it’s not time yet for you to walk into that calling. If one of you is called to something, there’s a sense in which both of you are called to it, especially if it’s a calling to vocational ministry, whether as an elder, a missionary, a church planter, a deacon, or a small group leader.
Men, I want to specifically address you. At Living Way, I know we have several men with a sense of calling to ministry leadership of some sort. I would never recommend that you do this without the full faith, confidence, and support of your wife. If you are not in unity over this new calling, then it will inevitably undermine your ministry, destabilize your family life, and set you up for failure in some way. This all fits under Paul’s general instruction that a man must manage his household well to be an elder or deacon in the church (1 Timothy 3:4,12).
If you are not married, then you should ask your closest friends or family members for some initial feedback on what you are sensing about your calling. Do they see the evidence of God’s grace in your life in this direction? Ask them to give you brutally honest feedback, as true friends (Proverbs 27:6).
3. External Confirmation: Spiritual Authority
If you make it past the first two steps, the third step is to submit this sense of calling to your pastors (elders). Your pastors play a unique role in your life, as they are those God has placed in your life to watch over you like a shepherd (Hebrews 13:17). If you are called to vocational ministry, they are the ones with the spiritual authority to send you or to place you into that calling. If the calling is to a different job or location, they are there to provide you with wisdom, prayer, and sound counsel.
A trusted elder team can serve as a safeguard against you making a bad decision or taking a painful detour in your life. They can also be your most significant source of support when they are behind you. You really should not take this lightly. God has given elders to the church for the good of the church, and they are there to serve you.
What this means is that you should not announce to your pastors that you are going to plant a church or that you should be the next elder. Rather, you should humbly submit your desire to do these things and then ask them for any feedback they have. If God has called you to this, eventually your pastors are going to see it in you and support you. If you are considering other major changes to your calling, like a different career, job, or location, it is wise to submit these major decisions to your leaders for counsel. This is not a matter of control but of wisdom.
You Need to Be Sent
Inherent in a call to ministry is the idea of being “sent” (Romans 10:15) or “appointed” (Titus 1:5). A pastor, missionary, evangelist, or any other ministry role is not self-appointed. Rather, they are sent or appointed by those already in those roles (pastors or apostles). It usually ends in disaster when someone sends themselves because self-sending is a mark of a proud and unsubmitted spirit. A person who cannot submit to authority will not exercise authority well.
When It All Comes Together
When all of these things come together, you are in a healthy place to leave your current calling and pursue a new one. If you, your wife (friends/family), and your pastors are in agreement and supportive, there’s truly nothing in your way. The decision will be blessed, and you will be on a straight path to that new calling. If any one of these three factors is missing, however, you should hit the pause button and wait on the Lord, trusting him to work things out in their proper time.
Although a calling is an inherently spiritual matter that can feel a little mysterious, you can demystify it by applying these practical principles of wisdom. If you assess these three factors from a place of humble contentment, you will be well on your way to discerning God’s will for your life.
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