Career vs. Calling

I recently heard someone talking about their "career" in children's ministry. I personally don't believe ministry is a career. I believe it is a calling of God. Most people who are in ministry are not in it because they decided to make a "career" of it. They are in ministry because God did a supernatural work in their heart and ushered in an invitation to give their life to reaching and discipling people. That was my case. When I was 16-years-old, God began to quietly whisper into my spirit that He wanted me to give my life to reaching people. At first, I said "no way." That is not something that was on my radar. And it was definitely not something I wanted to pursue. But the "calling" continued to pursue me. I'll never forget the day I got on my knees and said "yes" to God's call. I told God I'm going to stop running away from Your plan for my life and start running toward it. And if you are called, I am sure you remember God pursuing you for ministry as well. Even now, you may sense God calling you to give your life to reaching kids and families. You may be experiencing a burning bush call from God. A career is about the income. A calling is about the outcome. A career is you pursuing finances and prestige. A calling is you pursuing God. A career comes from your plans. A calling comes from God's plans. A career is about climbing the latter. A calling is about climbing higher in your relationship with God. A career is about seeing how many people can serve you. A calling is about seeing how many people you can serve. A career is about increasing yourself. A calling is about asking Jesus to increase and for you to decrease. You can change careers. But the calling of God is a life-time commitment. A career is about advancing yourself. A calling is about advancing the kingdom of God. Someone once told me if you can do anything else besides ministry, do it. Get a career and run with it. But if you are called by God to ministry, you will never be happy or fulfilled doing anything else. And it's true. Some of the most miserable people I know are people that ran from the call of God and instead began pursuing a career. How can you know if you are called? The Holy Spirit will deal with you if it is a calling. Everything you do and think about will begin to point toward the calling He is asking you to walk in. Like never before, we need children's and family minister leaders who are called by God to give their lives to reaching and discipling the next generation. Perhaps you are reading this and you God has been calling you to give your life to reaching the next generation. Don't run from the call. Embrace it. Or perhaps you have grown weary in your calling. Weary in the well doing that comes with it. You are just going through the motions. You have forgotten why you are doing this. When this happens, go back to your calling. Walk in it. Serve in it. Live in it. How do you see your ministry? A calling or a career?