Though I’ve had it on my shelf for quite a while, I’m finally getting around to reading John Ortberg’s book If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. It’s a great book full of lots of practical life-application stuff and I highly recommend it. He does a great job of taking Peter’s act of faith (read about it in Matthew 14:25-32) and breaking it down into several lessons that we can learn from that simple act of obedience.
I would like to think I’m a water walker but I recognize that as I’ve taken on more responsibilities such as being a parent, having a mortgage, etc., that I am not as big a risk taker as I once was. And yet, I have those earlier experiences of risking it all, stepping out in faith, and seeing the results of what God was able to do when I took “me” out of the equation and just made myself available to what He wanted to do through me. That’s not to say I’m not risking things today… in fact, some of the decisions I’ve made in the past year I would say have been pretty risky and I’m trusting God to lead.
One (of the many) point that has stood out to me in my reading is how Ortberg notices that a calling is not necessarily a career and that quite often in the Bible, there is a noticeable difference.
From John Ortberg:
A career may end with retirement and lots of “toys.” A calling isn’t over until the day you die. The rewards of a career may be quite visible, but they are temporary. The significance of a calling lasts for eternity. A career can be disrupted by any number of events – but nota calling. When God calls people, he enables them to fulfill their callings even in the most unlikely circumstances….
Pharaoh had a career-but Moses had a calling. Potiphar had a career-but Joseph had a calling. Haman had a career-but Esther had a calling. Ahab had a career – but Elijah had a calling. Pilate had a career – but Jesus had a calling….
Sometimes, in the providence of God, the end of a career is the beginning of a calling. And you have a calling. You are not a spare part – you are on a mission from God.
Just remember – there is some assembly required.
I hope this is an encouragement to those of you who are struggling with the career versus calling. I may write more on this later.
This week is a busy one – I’m working on fundraising things for Wives of Faith, doing some writing and getting my research for upcoming book projects organized. As always, thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment! I like to know when you stop by!
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