A popular notion among people is that our calling and purpose are attached to our professions. As someone working in full-time vocational ministry, I felt that way for so many years until I realised that no profession is ever big enough to become our own true calling ever.
Romans 12:2 urges us to renew our minds to be able to "discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
But as we renew our minds, God makes us realise that our calling is not tied down to our jobs. Your job can be a part of your calling, but it's never limited to just that.
Here are five reasons to believe that your purpose is so much larger than just your career.
1. Your Job Isn't Your Whole Life
Jobs are important, but they're not the most important thing. There are so many other things that matter more than your job—think of your marriage, kids, health, spiritual growth and other talents.
Your job is no doubt a priority, but it's not your whole life. When we make our life all about work, we miss out on so much that God wants us to experience as well.
2. Career Cannot Bring You Satisfaction
At some point or another if we keep running on the pretence that job satisfaction is life satisfaction, we will end up becoming terribly disappointed. Personal success at work may be a great accomplishment, but it can never truly satisfy us completely.
3. Position Does Not Equate to Influence
If you think that only CEOs and billionaires have the biggest influence in this day and age, think again. Remember that David started as a shepherd, Peter was a fisherman, Jesus was a carpenter, Mother Teresa was a nun, and Nelson Mandela spent 27 years jobless in a prison cell. Jobs give us leverage, but they do not guarantee influence and impact.
4. A Calling Is Something We Cannot Accomplish on Our Own
Anyone and everyone can get, keep and maintain a job. A calling, however, has to be bigger than just something that we can accomplish on our own. Therefore, a job is just not big enough to be your true calling. There is so much more to life than a 9 to 5 thing that pays you the highest salary possible and allows you to buy all the things you want and go to all the vacation spots you want to go to.
5. We Can Have Various Seasons in Life
There was a season God called me into business. But that changed three years ago when God called me to serve Him in church and ministry. Did I lose my purpose? No. It's because my job was never my purpose. Neither is it anyone's purpose. We may get called into different jobs or maybe even lose a job but still be called into the same great purpose that God has for us all.
