January 24: Find your Gifts, Find your Calling

Gregg’s Reflection

When I was baptized into the Lutheran church, I wasn’t taught the theology of vocation in a way that made it clear I could live out my calling in business. I thought a true calling meant leaving the marketplace for ministry. It took years to realize God needs people in every sphere of life. Pastors spend much of their time with believers, but laypeople carry the witness of Christ into the wider world.

Looking back, I can see that God had a purpose in my 25 years of learning business, management, and leadership. God rarely lights the whole path—often, we only see a couple of steps ahead. I used to want certainty before moving forward, but I’ve learned to trust God enough to take the first step without knowing where it leads.

Clarity comes when we begin moving. We may see only “shapes in the mist” at first, but as we walk forward in trust, gifts and calling emerge. Discernment is as much about knowing what is not our gift as it is about knowing what is. This takes humility, patience, and the willingness to listen until the right path becomes clear.

Scripture

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry… to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

Ephesians 4:11–13

Ancient Quotes

Let each one practice the gift he has received from God, and thus he will be a friend of God.

St. Anthony the Great, Apophthegmata Patrum

Modern Quotes

I am convinced that the Book of Jonah can best be read as God moving someone from a mere sense of a religious job or career to an actual sense of personal call… Once we have accepted our call, we do not look for payment, reward, or advancement because we have found our soul gift.

Richard Rohr, Dancing Standing Still, p. 82–83

Journaling Prompts

• What gifts have others affirmed in you?
  
  
• How do those gifts intersect with the world’s needs?
  
  
• What is one way you could use a gift this week to bless someone?
  
  
• How does your understanding of your gifts and life experience help you discern God’s faint path?

👉 Go deeper into this week’s theme:
Read the full Week 4 Reflection: Calling