Preparing for Your Calling—Is it Christ-Centered or Self-Centered?

So now that you recognize that God has a call on your life, it is time to prepare emotionally. This is one of the areas of preparation that gets scant attention, but it is the one area that can make or break you on the way to your calling. Everyone who is called to greatness experiences one of three responses to the Lord’s direction in their life: fear, resistance, or acceptance. A person can experience one or all of these responses, but it is the final choice that determines who goes forth as a world changer and who settles for mediocrity.

Facing Fear

The first response, fear, is the most common. Fear is most often associated with the anticipation of danger. A certain amount of apprehension is to be expected when you face an unknown situation. But to respond in terror at the Lord’s request sends God the message that you do not think He loves you or that He does not have your best interest at heart. No one would say he questions the character of God; yet that is exactly what you are doing when you allow your anxiety to cloud the vision of what God is doing in your life. Therefore, it is helpful to examine what you really fear.

Most people who are called of God are afraid of being used because of their insecurities. Following are some common thoughts: I don’t know if I am smart enough to go back to school. I don’t know enough Scripture to teach anyone else. I am too shy to do public speaking. I have too much junk in my own trunk to minister to anyone else. All these statements are self-centered. If you at any time have thought or spoken anything like this you have exalted your shortcomings above God’s ability to use you despite yourself. Even Moses had this response. As a man with a speech impediment, he thought he would be absolved of his call to lead Israel out of bondage (Exodus 4:11). Yet, not only did the Lord send Aaron to partner with Moses and cover his weakness, God dealt with the insecurity of his heart. To this day, Moses is remembered, not as a coward who shrunk back, but as a courageous man who delivered the nation of Israel.

You might have a legitimate physical or intellectual handicap, but thankfully God is not concerned with your limitations. He only looks for willingness because the weaker the vessel is, the more glory He gets for empowering you to do His will (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Another reason most people experience fear with respect to their call is because they are preoccupied with what other people will think about them. You might as well go ahead and accept the fact that there will always be someone who has something negative to say about you. Therefore, it makes more sense to obey the call than to disobey and thereby live enslaved to people’s opinions of you. Jesus even told his disciples that sometimes He requires you to turn from your family for the sake of the kingdom (Matt. 10:34-39). Even well-meaning Christian brothers and sisters can deter you from God’s plans for your life, so you must discipline yourself to care more about God’s thoughts toward you than others’ thoughts. Proverbs 29:25 (NIV) exhorts that “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” Fear is a natural emotion, but you can train yourself to diffuse fear by remembering that the loving, sovereign hand of the Father is over your life guarding you in all your ways.