“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” Heb 12:12
In the last few weeks, I’ve been burdened to pray for pastors across the nation, who have been struggling with discouragement and weariness to the point that they are even questioning their call to ministry. I then came across a Barna study, cited in Christianity Today, which reveals that 38% percent of American pastors have considered the idea of leaving the ministry to pursue secular vocations at some point over the last year! Yikes! I think it’s safe to assume that while the Canadian numbers might be a bit lower, they would not be too far behind.
As I prayed, I felt the Lord gave me some prophetic encouragement for those that might be in this place right now:
I feel there are pastors who are right now questioning their callings, wondering if the compelling vision they’ve carried to advance the kingdom might just have been an illusion, maybe just their own ambition? These are ones who are tempted to abandon vision and to resign themselves to simply managing and maintaining what is, laying down the hope for something more.
If either of these following words resonate with your spirit, please take them to prayer and allow the Lord to further speak and minister to you.
Remember Moses —
He knew he had a calling, but when he tried to walk it out, he misunderstood how it would happen and that ended up sending him into exile. He assumed he was permanently disqualified. During that exile time, his self-image crumbled to the point that he fought God when the Lord sought to commission him.
Some are taking stock of where they are at. Like Moses, you are painfully aware of ministry that didn’t work out, or you have been beaten down by a long season in the desert and you’ve decided you didn’t really have a call to lead your people into a new place of life in the Spirit after all. You’ve let the faith for that calling die and you are now intending to settle with being a simple, safe, don’t-rock-the-boat, shepherd. But God really does have something more for you.
Remember Matthias—
He was passed over by Christ. He wasn’t chosen to be one of the original 12 Apostles, yet he knew in his heart that this was his calling. Even though that ship had sailed, he continued to have this confusing sense of calling to be one of the 12. Despite that internal struggle, he stayed faithful, engaged, serving, submitted, and suddenly— in a way no one could have predicted — he’s chosen to replace Judas!
Some feel like Matthias, confused by the sense of the call in your heart that is not happening. It feels like the opportunities have come and gone and there is no hope for you to step into what you feel you were made for. Yet reflect on how everything turned around for Mathias, and as his internal sense of calling and the external reality finally lined up, he could see how perfectly God had prepared him. Trust God.
Ok then, time to take off the prophetic hat and put on the mentoring one.
While these words won’t apply to most of us, all of us could use strengthening in our ability to discern calling. We want to get this right personally, for we all want to be in the sweet spot of fully engaging in the works God prepared for us to do before the foundation of the earth (Eph 2:10), flowing in that grace, seeing that beautiful fruit. But additionally, we want to be able to serve others by confirming their callings as they are being discerned. This especially applies to those of us that are prophetic— this is a place where the gift of prophecy in all its forms can step up and absolutely shine! It’s a perfect place for “upbuilding, encouragement, and consolation”, the very essence of the prophetic.
At important junctures, the Lord has blessed me with wonderful prophetic words, words which he used to powerfully confirm and establish me in the direction that He was already revealing in my heart. These words became especially important as— in bleaker seasons when fruit was sparse, opposition strong and I wondered if had heard my calling rightly— I remembered that others had heard too, and so it was with the witness of two or three, that direction and calling became established in my life. Perhaps you have had a similar experience, and you similarly value these weighty calling-type prophetic words.
But there are two dangers concerning these kinds of words that we need to be aware of:
Firstly, these words must be discerned, no matter how high the profile of the prophet who gives the word. Someone may have a celebrity reputation as a prophet, but this doesn’t ensure that they always give accurate words. I’ve had some words given to me by really big-name prophets that have been off. All prophetic words must be tested, not just yours and mine (1 Thes 5:20).
Because we have put in more effort to activating the prophetic than maturing it, there are many godly, sincere, Christians who are more concerned with being active than being accurate. If my experience is anything to go by, I’ve easily had five times more well-meaning but inaccurate words given to me than the true ones. Words need to be weighed!
The second issue is the expectation that we need to get a prophetic word revealing our destiny from a well-known prophet if we are going to be significant in the kingdom of God. And preferably, this would involve being called out in a meeting and given a rock-star type word publicly so everyone else can adjust their perceptions of us! Without “getting our word” we feel unseen by God, we feel like a second-string Christian. This can lead to all kinds of jockeying and clamoring for words and putting a demand on prophets that is totally unhealthy. Pressuring a prophet to give you a word is frankly, not the best way to get an accurate one!
This mindset also calls into question our ability to hear God for ourselves, which is paramount for any ministry to produce fruit. Prophetic words should confirm, not replace what God has been saying to us.
These are dangers we need to keep in mind. Nevertheless, a true prophetic word that gives confirming revelation to someone about their calling is an incredible gift. It is a beautiful and mature expression of the prophetic, an expression that we would do well to be better equipped in.
I’d like to explore this with you.
So next time for Come Aside’s paid subscribers, we’ll consider the question: what is calling (both in the Church and in the secular sphere)? We’ll also look at some of the biblical applications for calling-type prophecy so we can mature in delivering these kinds of prophetic words by following scriptural guides, and we’ll explore proven ways to weigh prophetic words about calling so we don’t get snared in deception. Meanwhile, let’s remember these words from the Apostle Peter:
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
1 Peter 5:10
Don't Abandon Your Calling
Great post Sara. Many need encouragement in this season. I have a record of many of the words I have received over the years and go to them for reflections and encouragement from time to time. The most important ones are the things He has spoken directly to my heart.
Hi Sara, thank you for writing this post. Even though I am not a pastor or a church leader, your post really resonated with me. I have definitely been wrestling with this for almost a year now and also in prior seasons as well. I have received several prophetic words about my "calling/purpose" over the last two decades and they have been similar in nature, but for this past season, I have been questioning whether it was from the Lord 'cause in this season in the natural realm, it seems so impossible. I'm looking forward to your future posts about calling. Thank you for your ministry Sara. - Love in Christ, Cynthia Lok