The Why Before the What

We are in week 2 of our series “Called”.

Last week we talked about how every believer has TWO callings in their life.

We have a “general” calling.

And a “specific” calling.

A general calling is something that EVERY believer in Jesus is called to do.

We used examples of forgiving or loving others.

These are things that God calls and expects you to do as a believer.

But what this series is really focused on is the second calling that we have.

Our specific calling.

This is a calling that God specifically gives you.

The most obvious example is your vocation.

What job is God calling you to take.

We talked about how God’s call on our life doesn’t change but we can choose to fulfill that calling or not.

I shared the story of the Navy SEAL who thought he was supposed to go into ministry and after certain events felt like God told him he wasn’t called into ministry but the military.

Today the title of the message is, “The Why Before the What”.

Because it’s important that we find our calling.

But I think equally important is the WHY to finding our calling.

Why is it important to find our calling?

What does it do for us to live our specific calling?

It Helps to Maintain a Right Focus.

When you have the right focus you aren’t going to be pulled in different directions based on the currents of life.

Think about being on a boat out in the ocean.

If you turn your motor off and just sit there and start fishing what’s going to happen?

Eventually you're going to look around and say, “where are we?”

You’re going to drift with the currents.

But when you turn your motor on and steer in the direction you want to go, the current doesn’t affect you.

It’s there, but it’s not stopping you from getting you to your desired destination.

Too many people are living their life just sitting back and going with the current.

For example I heard a story of a man who was an accountant for a big oil company.

This oil company has the philosophy that they are going to pay more than any other oil company out there.

They are also going to work you 60-80 hours a week.

One day this accountant was working late with another employee and they were exhausted.

And this man looks over at this other employee and says, “why are we doing this?”

The other man just looked at him and said, “For the money”.

In that moment this man realized that’s not what he was supposed to do with his life.

It’s not about the money.

He ended up going to be a Pastor and has a successful church to this day.

But so many people have fallen into that trap.

The trap of the current of this life.

That it’s just all about making money and paying bills.

THEY’RE EXISTING BUT THEY’RE NOT LIVING!

You’re not going to truly live until you’re doing what God created you to do.

Psalm 37:23 NLT “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.”

Notice how it says that the Lord DIRECTS the steps of the godly?

It doesn’t say that he FORCES the steps of the godly.

God doesn’t force you to do anything.

He directs you and then you have to choose if you want to follow or not.

Think of the Lord’s direction as a GPS.

How many of you would be driving around in a different state right now if you didn’t have a GPS?

Imagine taking a road trip to Tennessee or somewhere that you’ve never been.

And you basically slept the whole way there.

So on the ride home your buddy says your driving but you don’t have a GPS.

Now let’s say you put the directions in your GPS.

You now have the choice to follow and trust those directions or go your own way.

That’s what God’s calling or direction is like for us.

And then I love how that verse ends with, “He delights in every detail of their lives.”

God delights in every detail of your life.

If God delights in every detail of our life then don’t you think He’d be interested in our vocation?

The second reason why it’s important to find your calling…

You Will Use Your Entrusted Gifts Effectively

God has given each and every one of us gifts.

Those gifts were given to us to maximize what we are called to do.

Romans 12:6 NLT “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well...”

What’s interesting is that the gifts that God gives us can help be successful in things we WEREN’T called to do.

For example I’ll use myself.

God has given me the gift to preach.

To stand in front of people and teach the Bible.

Now I could use that gift to go be a full-time teacher.

And I might even do a pretty good job because of the GIFT that God has given me.

But I will NEVER be as effective doing that as I would be doing what I’m actually called to do.

It’s the same for all of you.

You all have gifts that God has given you that you could use to be successful in different areas.

But you will never be as effective as you will be if you are in your calling.

John Bevere tells the story in this course about a Pastor friend of his that told him about a conversation he had with someone in his church.

This guy was a mechanic and started out working from his garage.

He ended up growing and growing and adding more and more to his business.

His business just exploded.

But because of the way his mind operated he was very good and studying the scriptures and teaching on it.

He was good at communicating the gospel to other people.

So he went to his Pastor and told him that he’s going to go into the ministry.

He thought he would be more effective for the kingdom being in full-time ministry than as a mechanic.

The Pastor told him he shouldn’t do that.

He told him he’s going to get out of the call of God for his life.

He said you can teach the bible but you’re so much better at fixing cars.

He told him this could affect his marriage and his family.

But sure enough he ended up getting upset at this Pastor and left the church and got hired as a teaching Pastors at a large church in the city.

After a while everything started to fall apart for this man.

Money was drying up, his wife was discouraged, his kids were starting to walk away from God.

So he called up his old Pastor and met up with him.

He told the Pastor everything you said was going to happen has happened.

So he resigned from the church and went back to running a shop and being a mechanic.

After that one night God gave him a dream.

In this dream God showed him how to diagnose a problem with a car by using a computer.

So this man didn’t know much about computers but he had a friend that did.

So he calls his friend up and starts asking all these questions about can I do this or that?

His friend says yes you can.

So he asks his buddy if he would work with him on developing this.

They end up coming up with this machine or computer that can diagnose a problem with your car four times faster than anything that was on the market.

So the company Carmax was just starting out and had properties in five different states.

They told him they want his garage with those machines next to each one of his properties.

So this man calls that Pastor back again and says, “Pastor, I’m called to fix cars.”

This man had the ability to teach the bible.

But he was using that ability in the wrong arena.

He was called to work on cars.

So we just talked about why it’s important to find or know your calling.

Now we want to talk about why it’s important to LIVE your calling.

You Will Be Satisfied and Fulfilled

Galatians 6:4 NLT “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.”

When you are in your calling you exude an energy that you won’t get from anything else.

You get this feeling of fulfillment that you won’t have doing something different.

That’s why when I graduated high school and was figuring out what to do with my life and I got a job at GFS.

I thought this was it for me.

Good company with good pay, this is God’s plan.

But then I was MISERABLE!

I hated every second of it.

Why? Because that’s not what I was called to do.

When I did get into ministry I had a joy and an energy like never before.

I LOVED doing things related to ministry.

Because THAT’S what I was called to.

That verse ends with “and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.”

That leads to the second reason why it’s important to LIVE your calling.

You Won’t Envy What Others Do

When you are in your calling you are less likely to look at someone else and say, “I want to do what they’re doing.”

You might admire them for what they do but you won’t envy them.

Growing up I always wanted to be in the NBA.

God CLEARLY did not call me to that.

I went to school with Chris Kaman.

He was the 6th overall pick in the draft with Lebron James and Dwayne Wade.

It’s easy to look at him and say man I wish that was me.

But I don’t because that’s not what God called me to do.

And if I had the ability to go to the NBA and that’s not what God wanted for me, I would never be truly fulfilled.

I would probably still be miserable.

When you’re not in your calling you will always feel like something is missing.

You may be saved and on fire for God.

But you will still feel like something is missing.

You Are Strengthened

John 4:34 NKJV “Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

Food is what gives you energy, it gives you strength.

If you work construction all day and don’t eat or drink anything you’re not going to last long.

Food gives you the strength to go on.

Jesus is saying doing the will of God is like food to your body.

Living in your calling will give you the strength to keep going.

Notice how he said, “and to finish His work.”

When you operate in your calling and keep your eyes on Jesus, you will have the strength and energy to do things you never thought you could do.

And then it will help you to FINISH.

A lot of people start in their calling but they don’t finish.

Because they get distracted or they let sin or things creep into their lives.

Like how last week we talked about pride.

And how we forget that we are called to be servants in our calling.

Because when pride creeps in it distracts us from doing what God wants us to do.

And we need to FINISH what we are called to do.

You Will Be Eternally Rewarded

This is what we are going to be talking about next week.

That your reward for living for God isn’t just eternal life with him.

The Bible actually talks about how in heaven we are rewarded for how we lived on this earth.

We all aren’t going to be doing the same thing.

So living in your calling is important to the rewards you will receive in heaven.

So hopefully this morning you’ve seen the importance of not only KNOWING what your calling is but LIVING in your calling.

For some of you your life would look drastically different if you just took that step of faith and did what God was calling you to do.

And it’s not too late.

Altar Call