While you’re waiting…

I sat at my laptop, looking at the photo you’re looking at, asking, “God, what do You want me to write?”

No ideas, thoughts, or message came.

I stared at the logo. A photo I’d taken of my steering wheel as I waited for my wife to come out of the hair dresser’s turned out to be my “photo for the day” for February 23, 2013. Now it was supposed to serve as my inspiration for a post on hope.

Still nothing.

Maybe it would help if I did some research on the Mazda logo. I did.

Nothing.

I talked to my wife, who gave me permission to skip this photo and go on to something that was more inspirational. I told her I couldn’t. That felt like cheating, even though you would never know. As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I don’t skip photos unless I think they are of poor quality or the subject might be of a person, or thing, someone might not want shown publicly.

I looked at the logo one last time. About to put the blank page, with nothing but a photo at the top, away, I had a thought. Maybe others have felt this way, too.

Have you?

You’ve read your Bible…

You’ve prayed about it…

You’ve listened to preachers, teachers and podcasters…

You’ve watched other Christians go about their calling…

And yet, you find yourself stuck, wondering, What is my calling?

I want to encourage you by asking you to look at Galatians 6:9, where Paul tells us, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” (NASB)

We know what doing good looks like. Paul had just talked about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. He said, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

While you’re waiting for God to confirm your calling, take the initiative to live according to the fruit of the Spirit. Here’s what that can look like. In whatever you are do, allow the Holy Spirit to help you do it in a way that produces the fruit of the Spirit.

I’ll give one example. Let’s say you need to pick up a few groceries. Look for opportunities to show love.  Let others see joy on your face.  Strive for peace as you try to find a substitute for a sold-out product.  Practice patience in the checkout line.  Focus on kindness and goodness on your way there, while you are there and on your way home. Be faithful and gentle. Exercise self-control. I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunities for all that.

Then, continue this into the next item on your to-do list. Keep going and keep praying that God will confirm in your heart what you should be doing for Him. It may be—you already are.

And, finally, I have a question. As a reader of my posts, whether regularly or not, what can I do to help you? Please use the comment section to let me know if there are topics you want to hear about or concerns you have. I’ll pray God will give me the words to help.