Calling and Purpose are not the same.

Climbing out of the pit of despair was not easy.

I am exhausted, battered and bruised. Out of breath, in disbelief, I am… free. The ground feels loose and slippery or is it my wobbling, tired legs, I can’t tell.

For a few weeks, though it felt like a lifetime, I had been clawing my way up the crumbling walls of this pit. This pit was cruel. It would allow me to climb a few meters, taunt me with just enough hope to push a little harder, reach a little further… then throw me back down deeper into its’ dark abyss.

The intensity of this struggle clarified an important truth.

Calling and Purpose are not the same.
The Calling is a call to action, a call to move, a call to faith.

It’s not a vision or a mission. It’s a step of faith into the unknown. It is a declaration of trust of the One who calls forth.

I realized I had fixed my eyes and attention to the destination, rather than my fellow traveler, advocate, guide who called me out with a promise to be with me through it all.

I was excited for the adventure and ran ahead of Him, only to get lost. I didn’t see the hazards and the roadblocks or the pit I would fall into.

But fortunately, He never lost sight of me. It seems as if he allowed me to struggle and fail to prepare me for the harder path ahead.

And when I felt helpless and hopeless, He reached his hand down and helped me climb out of that pit, the pit of despair. Set’s my feet on solid ground and again, as many times before, He calls me onward with these two simple words.

“Follow Me.”

Originally published on May 10, 2016.