What is God Calling Me to Do?

Ephesians 2:10,
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Melissa Bell, KGM Team Member

Over the years, women have asked me, “How do you know what God is calling you to do?”

Honestly, I spent years walking around asking the exact same question. The Bible says God has plans for all of His people (Ephesians 2:10), but how do we find ours?

A few years ago, I did the study Anything by Jennie Allen with our women’s ministry group. I was entering a new phase of life and was excited to find God’s purpose for me. The book description boasted, “Anything is a prayer of surrender that will spark something. A prayer that will move you to stop chasing things that just make you feel happy and start living a surrendered life that matters.” I jumped into the study with both feet, eager to finally do something worthwhile.

In this study, Jennie takes you through her journey that led her to adopt a child from Africa and launch her ministry, IF: GATHERING. Surely there is a place for me somewhere between being a stay-at-home mom and launching a global ministry.

The study lasted eight weeks, and as the time began to draw to a close, I began feeling anxious; with only two weeks left in our study, I still didn’t have a big revelation. I had no special instructions from God — I didn’t feel led to move to another country or start a ministry. In fact, the only feeling I had was one of defeat. I asked myself whether I had missed the special moment when God spoke to me? Maybe I’d overslept that particular morning!

With our last meeting only a few days away, I prayed ardently to God asking for something…anything. And then it came. I did not receive a grand assignment to be played out in front of an arena of millions but rather a daily act of obedience. God called me to wake up each day and pray, “God, I will do Anything you ask, what are we going to do today?” It has been in this daily obedience that I have deepened my relationship with God, learned to turn my ear to Him for direction, and defined who I am in Christ.

Now as I go about my day, I am tuned in to hear the voice of God and His calling. Some days I feel led to stop and help a stranger or reach out to a neighbor while other days I am called to pray.

This daily obedience has led me to places that I may never have ventured on my own. I have found myself praying in the library with a homeless teenager, strolling through the grocery store with a single mom and her toddler helping them buy groceries, and opening my home to complete strangers. The adventures have been endless. It makes me wonder how many things I have missed throughout the years because I have been busy with my own agenda, not leaving time in my days for God to use me.

If you are still trying to find your place, I would encourage you to take it one day at a time and remember: Ministry is whomever is on the phone or at your door.