We’re continuing our series The Call where we take a look at what it means it discover your personal calling and how to live it out. Last week we discovered how you can discern a call and this week we explore the common thoughts that cross our minds right after we receive some sort of calling. God has callings for each of our lives, but these “blockers” that frequently come up can hinder us from hearing God’s direction after He calls us to something new.
1. Read Exodus 3.10–12.
After God calls Moses, the first question he asks is “Who am I?” We can understand why he would ask it. He’s a shepherd, he’s been out of Egypt and away from Israel for decades and suddenly God is calling him to this history-making, world-changing position of leadership. This is the “I’m not qualified or worthy” call blocker.
This blocker comes up a lot for all of us. God calls us to something new and suddenly we’re hit with a sense of unworthiness and we find ourselves saying “I hear you God but I’m just ________.” You can fill in the blank with anything. But God tells us He will be with us because this calling is not about our worthiness, it’s about the God who makes us worthy.
Read 2 Thessalonians 1.11–12.
God’s power makes our faithful steps fruitful, which ultimately results in God establishing our worthiness. The problem for us is that we want to feel worthy to do great things before we’ve actually done anything great, but God makes us worthy through the process of stepping out in faith and responding to the calling.
Question: What’s your biggest reason for having this “I’m not qualified” blocker? How do you think God could use you because of—instead of in spite of—that reason
2. Read Exodus 3.13–14.
After God responds to Moses’ concern about worthiness, Moses ask God a second question, “Then what shall I tell them?” This time Moses is concerned with his knowledge base and his expertise on things related to his new calling. He wonders if the Israelites will ask him questions he doesn’t have answers to and he’ll look totally incompetent. This is called the “I don’t know enough” call blocker.
When God asks us to step up to something new, but we don’t know everything there is to know about it, it can cause us a lot of anxiety, but pursuing our calling isn’t about knowing everything we need to know. It’s about learning to trust God to teach us what we need to know. God has even given us the Holy Spirit to help us know what we need to know.
Question: Have you ever experienced a time where you felt completely out of your comfort zone and you found yourself having to depend on God teaching you? What was that experience like? How did becoming dependent on God change how you approached the situation?
3. Read Exodus 4.1.
After God responds to the worthiness blocker and the knowledge blocker, Moses asks him “What if they do not believe me or listen to me?” Here Moses isn’t worried about his worthiness or his knowledge. Moses is worried about how the people will respond and whether he will be accepted by the Israelites. This is the “I won’t be received” call blocker.
Read 1 Corinthians 3.6–7.
We’ve all experienced a time when we followed an opportunity, only to have it turn out completely different than we expected. Just because we’re called doesn’t mean everything always works out perfectly. Jesus called the apostle Paul to go and share his faith in as many cities as he could. Sometimes Paul had a lot of fruit, sometimes a little, and sometimes they stoned him and ran him out of town. But Paul recognized that—even though he experienced what could be seen as setbacks—it’s ultimately God who makes things grow. There’s a supernatural interplay between our initiative and God’s power. We can take initiative but only God can deliver the results. Our job is to take the initiative and plant seeds, God’s job is to make them grow.
4. Read Exodus 4.10–11.
Moses’ next concern is about his talents and ability. He believes he just doesn’t have the skills to do what God is asking him to do. Moses allows himself to believe he doesn’t have the right abilities, but God reminds him that his abilities are God-given in the first place. This is the “I’m not skilled enough” call blocker.
Read 2 Corinthians 9.8,11.
God promises to sustain and equip us for everything He calls us to. He just asks us to trust that He’ll give us the skills to do it. Maybe God’s calling you to lead a team and you’ve never led before. Or maybe He’s calling you to manage a project and you’ve never managed a budget before. Or maybe He’s calling you to share your testimony with a coworker and you’ve never shared the gospel before. We always can trust that God will give us what we need to accomplish any tasks He calls us to. God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called.
Question: When in your life have you seen God equip you with the abilities you needed to do something He was asking you to do? How did he go about developing those abilities?
5. Read Exodus 4.13–14.
God responded to four of Moses’ calling blockers, but Moses still refused to respond to God’s call and asked Him to send someone else. At first, it looks like Moses is afraid to move forward because the call is too great, but there’s something deeper at play: disbelief. God has spoken faithfully to every one of Moses’ call blockers, but at the end of the day, Moses just doesn’t believe God really has his back. The final call blocker is named, “I don’t trust God’s promises.”
Moses has heard God’s call, but just doesn’t believe God has his back. When God asks us to trust Him and we still don’t believe in His goodness, it’s true that God gets upset at times. Yet, God moves quickly from anger to mercy. He shows us an even greater mercy than Moses received. God’s given us His son, Jesus Christ, who promises to walk with us through every challenge of calling we might face. He promises to be strong when we are weak and promises to be with us when we’re alone.
At the end of the day, we’re the only people that can live out what God’s called us to do, but we have full confidence that Christ stands next to us to carry us through our calling.
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