It is all the rage nowadays to be nurturing your unique gifting and making it your calling. People are chasing their dreams, taking life by the horns and rocking it. It’s happening all around me and sometimes I’m in that group, but other times I doubt. Anyone with me on that? What I love about being saved though is having Scripture to lay out life - and this passage does exactly that for me.
Colossians 1:9-12 (The Message)
We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in His orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do YOUR work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul - not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.
It says to be working hard in His orchard. It drives me crazy is when people align being in ministry to working in an actual church setting. There are a lot of people doing exactly what God called us to do - love God, love people - in settings outside of the church; does that mean they’re doing anything other than working in ministry? I’m a full-time mom, but I believe I’m working in ministry just as much as any pastor, teacher or evangelist. And God’s orchard, to me, means that which He is tending to: His people. And who are His people? All of them - all the people. He loves ALL of them, both inside the sanctuary and outside on the corner. So, is what you love to do, is what you’re naturally gifted at being utilized in a way that is loving and blessing people? Also, it says working hard. There’s a difference between punching in your time card and browsing Facebook for 4 out of the 8 hours of your workday versus actually putting your mind, passion and quality time into what you are doing. I want to be the latter. Fully investing myself in what’s in front of me. As a friend of mine would say - “Don’t half-ass it, full-ass it”.
The passage also says to keep learning more and more about how God works because that will translate into how you do your work. Pretty self-explanatory. I never want to stop pursuing a friendship with Jesus. Learning more about Who and how He is will only influence me in my life to be less selfish, more giving, less judgmental and more kind.
Next up, stick it out when it gets hard. Life isn’t easy and following any particular path into a bright future isn’t going to just happen. You HAVE to put in the work. At the gym I go to they have workouts on a board with specific reps written down that you need to follow. These reps aren’t a suggestion. They aren’t a starting off point for negotiation. You do ALL of them. Because you want to get better and stronger and faster. If you don’t do all the reps you’re cheating yourself and you’ll end up wondering why your body isn’t changing and you can’t keep up with everyone else. And I get it, coming in last sucks, and I come in last frequently. Or at least I used to. But I kept my head down and have worked really, really hard and now it’s a 1 out of 4 situation when I’m bringing up the rear. Because my body is truly changing. And at this point I know it’s a genuine victory, not one that I happened to get lucky in.
Fourthly, through the hard work recognize change happening - maturity perhaps. Humble confidence. The kind that doesn’t flaunt your gift every chance, but is wise and recognizes when to take risks and when to hold off. The appreciation for your work growing and the thankfulness for God’s grace in helping it reach new depths. Becoming stronger and recognizing God in the work changes it from grit-strength to glory-strength. It’s a foolish notion to look at someone that is in a position that you want to be in and think that they got there easily. Sure, some did, but the ones that truly dig in and move your soul and have gravitas to their work - they struggled to get there. It’s given them an undercurrent of character that draws people in.
And lastly, getting to the point where you can enjoy everything bright and beautiful that God has for you. Note, not relaxing, slipping your shoes off and saying “Ok. I’m done, I’ve made it.” Cause the beauty is you’ll never want to stop evolving, growing, learning - if you’re doing it well and doing it right.
So how do you know what your gift or your calling is? I think there’s a pretty simple way to figure it out. It’s a scene from one of my favorite all-time movies. Whoopi Goldberg’s character, Sister Mary Clarence, is talking to Lauryn Hill’s character, Rita, about singing since the former loves it and has a sneaking suspicion the young prodigy in front of her is being resistant for foolish reasons. Sister Mary tells Rita about an excerpt from a book called “Letters to a young poet” she read by Rainier Maria Rilke. She looks Rita in her eyes and says this: “Fella used to write to him saying ‘I wanna be a writer, please read my stuff’. And Rilke says to this guy ‘Don’t ask me about being a writer. If when you wake up in the morning you can think of nothing but writing, then you’re a writer.’ I’m gonna say the same thing to you. If you wake up in the morning and you can’t think of anything but singing first…then you’re supposed to be a singer, girl”.
What is it that you think about when you wake up in the morning? Getting into the kitchen and coming up with a delicious recipe? Sitting at your computer and writing down your thoughts on any particular topic? Pushing your body to become stronger and more capable? Living in a different country and holding kids that haven’t been loved on? Capturing life through a lens that allows the beauty of God’s creation to be focused on? Getting on your hands and knees and being present with your kids? Taking the :30 that your customers are at your drive-up window to interact with them and give them a genuine sense of worth and love?
Take what you’ve been given - that is your gift. And do something with it - THAT is your calling.
