Find God's Calling at Midlife: 3 Helpful Tips
It is challenging to find God’s calling on your life, but it can be particularly confusing during midlife.
Learn three tips to help you find God’s calling and grow in your faith, whether you are in midlife or any season of life.
There is something about the turn of a calendar year or the celebration of a birthday that can cause us to pause and reflect.
We take inventory of our successes or lack thereof. We note the superficial signs of aging by counting our new forehead wrinkles and furiously slathering ourselves with cream.
We praise God for an overall good year, or we praise Him for carrying us through a horrible one. And we pray for good years to come.
In my midlife reflection, I can’t deny the insatiable craving for purpose. There is an innate desire to find God’s calling for my life, so I dwell deeper in thought.
I question if my year has been fruitful (John 15:16).
Have I walked in obedience this year? Have I told others about Jesus? More importantly, has my behavior and posture been Christ-like?
I use these questions to take an honest assessment.
Sadly, I consistently fall short in these areas. Truthfully, I probably always will.
However, thankfully, we serve a gracious and merciful God who has written our story and given us a calling that will, without a doubt, come to fruition.
Friend, breathe a sigh of relief and know that you just aren’t powerful enough to miss His purpose for your life.
Finding God’s Calling on Your Life
Romans 11:29 assures us that, “God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.”
The context of this verse concerns God’s faithfulness in fulfilling His promises to Israel.
Like Israel, we are His beloved believers, and what God has promised us and called us to will be fulfilled.
But if you are like me at midlife with a sense that something is missing and yearning to find God’s calling for your life, let’s explore three ways that help us press forward and run the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1-3).
3 Tips To Find God’s Calling
#1 Find God’s Calling: Don’t Miss the Ministry Right in Front of You
In my dreamy realm, I envision the revelation of God’s calling for my life unfolding much like the romanticized and empowering story of Queen Esther: “Perhaps you were made for such a time as this.”
A girl can dream, right?
I skip straight to the captivating part of the story and forget that there were many ordinary moments leading up to this pivotal event in scripture.
Perhaps there are many callings God has planned for us.
Perhaps we were made for multiple pivotal events.
Perhaps most of our life’s activities are part of God’s calling.
We know God calls us to discipleship.
He may call us to motherhood and to love someone through sickness and health.
God calls us to worship together in the body of Christ.
He also calls us to care for the widows, the oppressed, and the poor.
God calls us to secular occupations or jobs we never planned to do.
There are also different callings for different seasons. Sometimes we are called to start something, and someone else is to finish it.
We see this scenario played out in scripture as King David meticulously planned God’s temple, but God prevented him from building it.
David’s son, Solomon, built the temple after King David passed. David knew he would not see it finished, yet he still followed the call.
We often exhaust ourselves chasing the big picture callings that we miss the holy moments right in front of us.
These mini ministries are building blocks that we must steward well before making the climb, because God ordains the ordinary moments before revealing His extraordinary purpose.
#2 Find God’s Calling: Take Inventory of Your Thoughts, Talents, and Trials
Have you ever heard the phrase, “You are what you think?”
This is a common philosophical and spiritual teaching, penned by many ancient thinkers, highlighting how our thoughts influence our well-being and sense of self.
Ralph Waldo Emerson takes it one step further, saying, “You become what you think about all day long.”
It’s true, but let’s ensure our thoughts align with the Word by praying for wisdom and discernment from the Holy Spirit.
Thoughts and talents go hand in hand.
If we have a talent, such as art, designing our next piece often consumes our thoughts.
Perhaps our God-given gifts and talents are the key to opening the door to our unique kingdom calling.
Other times, the nudge we can’t ignore becomes our new talent.
When I first felt the call to Christian writing, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Outside of business school, I hadn’t written anything, and I certainly didn’t feel equipped or talented in this area.
But then I acquired “writer’s brain.” Occurrences in my everyday life became narratives I had to share with others.
I came up with book ideas while showering. I started recording voice memos in the car because I didn’t want to forget the sentences forming in my mind.
After much wrestling, I sat down and wrote a blog post.
Then I obediently wrote another article and another.
Some of the words were unbearable to write because the Spirit was encouraging me to share my trials and the redemptive reshaping of my life.
Writing eventually became a cathartic, holy practice that I can’t live without.
Often, our pain becomes our purpose—our trials become our testimonies.
Who better to encourage and comfort another soul than one who has gone through the same kind of hardship?
Paul speaks to this truth in the first chapter of Second Corinthians.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
So, what are you dreaming up in your brilliant brain? What are you passionate about?
In what ways can you use your past trials to help others walk through the same hardship?
Take the time to journal a few lines each day and ask your Advocate to lead you to the next step in your calling.
#3 Find God’s Calling: Pray for Open and Closed Doors
It is easy to pray for blessings, like wide-open doors.
Praying for closed doors, however, that’s a little riskier. Risky because we know some closed doors will break our hearts.
I know this heartbreak well, having experienced rejection recently.
I wasn’t even looking for a career change, but the opportunity landed in my lap, and the excitement started bubbling up in me.
New ideas and vibrant visions were coming in quickly, and I couldn’t wait to take on the challenge.
But first, I prayed. “God, please help guide my steps. Open wide this new door or shut it tight if this is not the path you want me to take.”
Surely, I thought. This door will swing open wide. I have waited long enough.
It wasn’t until the day after I received the news that the sting of disappointment started to set in.
I was crushed. Even though I faithfully prayed for God’s will to be done, I secretly wished it were the open door to God’s calling on my life.
Have you experienced this kind of disappointment?
You start out right by asking God’s blessing on your plan.
You summon the courage to pray for His will to be done, and you are hopeful and positive. Surely, God wants what I want.
Then you get the rejection. I feel your pain.
Sister, we must take comfort in knowing that God often uses closed doors to protect us and guide us to safer paths.
Rejection often leads to redirection.
-We don’t know what God knows. We do know His ways are always higher (Isaiah 55:8-9).
-We can’t foresee the future, but we can trust the One who can.
-We can choose to see closed doors as an opportunity to grow our faith and trust in God.
-We can choose to work in the waiting period and trust God to open the right doors in His perfect timing to fulfill His kingdom purposes.
And when the perfect time comes, He will open a door that no one can shut (Revelation 3:7-8).
So, be ready for the call!
Finding Your Calling on YouTube
Listen in as Darcie shares her journey to find God’s calling for her life. She opens up about closed doors and overcoming rejection.
You can view our discussion here: https://youtu.be/QqxohIT652k
Author
Darcie Fuqua
Darcie Fuqua is an Auburn graduate, Youth Director, Christian writer, and mental wellness advocate. You can read more of Darcie’s writing at www.leightonlane.com and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.
