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Pastor Mark Clark

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3 To Do’s when you’re confused

September 11, 2015 / Mark
1999 was a confusing year for me. I started the calendar year thinking film school, started school in a Public Relations degree track at a local college, and by mid-September was studying theology at a school in the city. In college I went from a Youth Ministry major to a passion for scholarship so that by the time I finished I was moving out to B.C. as a two year stop on the way to be a professor – which became (so far) an 11 year stop on the way to planting a church.

Life can be confusing.

Lately I’ve been talking to a lot of people in life who are stirring and feeling lost in regard to their job, calling, ministry, etc. There is often a disconnect between their PASSION (what they want to do) and their GIFTING (the way God’s wired them). This is a frustrating place to be and finding a meaningful vocation in life is about living in the sweet spot of where those two spheres connect.

For those in this place one of the best resources I can offer is the author Gordon T. Smith. He is a great writer and thinker around issues of discernment and calling in life. This book – Courage and Calling helps bring clarity to our lives as we seek out that sweet spot.

Smith says there are three basic callings we have in life – a calling by God to himself, a calling to a particular vocation in life, and a calling to this or that at a given time.

Many of us are searching for our calling in life and it takes courage to NOT do things we aren’t called to just because we are passionate about them, or to bear down and DO something we may not be all that passionate about, because God is clearly calling us. If however we do stop and follow what God is calling us to vs what we are calling ourselves to God will reward our courage and use us in the world.

How do we find where PASSION and GIFTING connect? In my life I’ve found a few ways:

1. Pray and listen to God’s voice
2. Ask and listen to the people around you
3. Be patient and don’t force yourself into roles