Throughout life, in the numerous roles we fulfill, we have felt a calling. A calling to say yes or say no, to step out or step back. I’m sure you can recall times when those who you look to for support in your calling did not respond as you wished, namely with excitement, a curiousness to learn more, or a willingness to help. Take heart, you are not alone!
As a daughter, sibling, friend, and wife - I have experienced this. Many, many times I did not navigate the situation well! However, I do feel as if God has repeated these type of situations in my life so that I might learn to do it better. Sometimes the situation was a brief conversation, other times it entailed a year or more of riding out the waves as patiently and prayerfully as I could.
Some things I learned that seem to help me time and again:
- they may not understand your calling to varying degrees - or at all
- they may not like your calling to varying degrees - or at all
- they may be resentful if they weren’t called as you have been
- we have to respect their response whether we agree or disagree with it
- its more important for us to communicate that we feel God has called us to do this
rather than continue to try to get them to understand it or like it
- trying to be the driving force behind making this a life changing experience for you AND
them may cause even more disinterest
- pray for, notice, and utilize the moments that will naturally occur to share as the Spirit
leads you using inclusive, common language
- sometimes less is more
- find someone who has navigated these rough waters and imitate them!
- let them learn more by witnessing your experience of being called
Don’t be mistaken, I’m far from mastering this type of thing! This list gets reviewed frequently, to remind myself of these lessons and in order to edit or add to it. There’s no doubt about it, once we’ve drawn nearer to God, learned to hear from Him and to draw on our identity to take action, it’s important we learn to handle this type of struggle.
- Nanette H.
