A Question of Calling
By Hollie Wohlwend
Hollie Wohlwend is a member of Central Baptist Church of Fountain City in Knoxville, Tenn., and is a first-year student at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama.

How do we know when God is calling us, and how do we respond to that calling? These questions carry huge significance for me as a first-year seminary student. I think, too, that they are questions every Christian must struggle with on some level. In my first two months of school, not a day has passed without the issue of calling being brought up in some form. As I wrestle with not being able to fully answer every question about my plans for the future, I am prayerfully reconsidering my understanding of and response to this weighty matter.

One of the questions I face most often is, "What do you plan to do after seminary?" or rephrased, "What do you feel God is calling you to do?" At this point, my response is simply that I am not sure. I cannot say with certainty where three, five, or ten years will lead me. I have no idea specifically what I will be doing after seminary. What I do know for certain is that I have a burning desire to be involved in career ministry, that doors flew open for me to come here, and that I feel like I am exactly where I need to be right now. I wish I knew more about where this experience will take me and the specifics of what I will be doing years from now, but I am slowly learning to be comfortable with these unknowns. I am even beginning to believe that a significant part of my calling may lie in my willingness to wait for God to reveal His plans to me as He teaches me the importance of daily listening and yielding to Him. The problem is that too often my human nature makes this waiting and relinquishing of control very difficult.

Talk of the future saturates our culture, economy, technology, media, and even our Christian conversations. We are conditioned to view so many experiences as only means to an end. I fear that I may one day be astonished to discover how many times I missed out on the enjoyment of today because of my obsession with and fears over the potential troubles of tomorrow.

Without ever minimizing the importance of preparing for the future, I think Scripture encourages us to focus on the present - on the power and significance of the moment. Even God's Old Testament name for Himself, I AM, suggests that He wants to direct our attention to the here and now. So much of my faith rests in how sincerely I can believe that the God I profess, "searches me and knows me" (Psalm 139:1) and will "fulfill His purpose for me" (Psalm 138:8). If I believe that I serve a God who fully knows me and earnestly desires to fulfill His pre-ordained purpose for me, how can I continue to let my limited understanding of time and future stand in the way of Him using me where and how I am at this moment?

Every time I start to become impatient and frustrated with my inability to give an impressive answer for the question of calling, I am reminded that God may really only be calling me to seek and know Him more today. The challenge is for me to grow in my knowledge and trust of Him to the point where I can rest in and even celebrate the present, without fretting over the details of how He may use me tomorrow.

So as new people, new questions, and new opportunities to panic come my way each week, my prayer through this process is that I will be both open and wise enough to respond to His present-tense calling on my life - a call simply to trust that He will wondrously fulfill His perfect purpose for me in His perfect time.

<<Back to Archive

View for Printing

Contributors
Staff
Advertising
Internships

Send this Page to a Friend

Add Me to Mailing List