Don't Cripple Your Calling

I was thinking about the story of Joseph the other day and the great things that God did through him. The song, “See a Victory” has a line that says, “You take what the enemy meant for evil and You turn it for good.” That is close to a quote from Joseph when his brothers that sold him into slavery had come to get food. His brothers meant to harm Joseph, but God had other plans. God had a different calling on Joseph’s life and put Joseph in a high position because of his faith.

Joseph had a divine calling on his life and I believe that every one of us have a divine calling on our lives also, but here’s the deal, you have to follow your calling and not hinder it. I believe that God has a calling on my life or a dream for me. That dream or calling changes from time to time. It might stay the same for a while but He may decide that He needs me doing something different or somewhere different.

Like I said, I believe that you have a divine calling. Do you know what your calling is? Are you doing your part to make that calling happen or are your sabotaging it? Let’s read a little about Joseph and see if we can pick out a few things about him. Genesis 37:2-11

A few things about our callings. One God’s calling is not limited by age or gender. Joel 2:28 “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.” How old was Joseph when he had these dreams? Around 17. David killing Goliath? Abraham when he had Isaac. Sometimes we think we are too young and sometimes we think we are too old. Let me tell you this, “If you ain’t dead, God ain’t done!”

Another thing the calling is never just about you. We talked about being a nobody. We have talked about being a servant to all. We are to be the vessel God uses to impact the world. You will get a blessing, but so will others.

Your calling will take courage to believe and endurance to complete. Noah was told to build an ark and it had never reigned and it took 100 years to complete. Galatians 6:9 Let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Ways that we cripple our calling…

1. Pride!

Proverbs 16:18

A. Pride causes us to praise ourselves or put others down.

Philippians 2:3

B. Pride keeps us from owning our mistakes.

Proverbs 28:13

C. Pride causes us to choose our way over God’s way.

Proverbs 14:12 NLT

2. Unhealthy personal issues.

Ephesians 5:15

3. Self-defeating attitudes.

Philippians 4:8, Philippians 2:5

4. Poor choices.

Proverbs 19:3

Don't Cripple Your Calling