When your "calling" is fuzzy......

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This post came to me in the middle of the dark night. I woke up with the title on my lips. 

Sometimes the Lord speak to us as we sleep. Possibly because our hearts and minds are quiet and free from distractions. 

A common prayer I pray over my family is for God to speak to us as we sleep. I ask Him to impart dreams, desires, wisdom, thoughts, knowledge into our minds and hearts. 

He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. Job 33:15

A question I am always asking the Lord is, "what is my calling, Lord? what is my purpose?"

I get this antsy feeling sometimes that maybe there is something I need to be doing that I am not. Maybe I have missed out on the greatest calling of my life because I was not listening when He called me. 

Waves of fear crash over me at times that when I get to Heaven He will shake His head at me and tell me that He had so much more for me, but I never listened to Him and discovered it. 

When these thoughts come, I have to immediately take those thoughts captive and hold them up to the Truth of God's Word. 

Jesus boldly told the questioning Pharisees, when He was asked what the greatest commandment was....

 "37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40

So, more than our occupation. More than our gifts and offerings. More than our talents and desires. More than our great knowledge of the Bible....

We are to Love. 

Love God. 

Love others. 

Without these, nothing else matters. 

We can devote our lives to sharing the gospel and miss the mark here. 

So my question to all of us is this....

How well are we loving others?

Loving God is the easy part. 

Yes, we love God. Of course we do!

But, how well are we loving others?

In our busy culture, we find it easier to connect with those we love due to technology. 

However, how much of a sacrifice of love does that take?

Time is love. 

When we take the time to see each other face to face. To listen to each other free from distractions. To genuinely encourage and support each other. To ask each other with all sincerity, "how are you doing?" and really mean it. 

Loneliness is at an all time high among our younger generation. Screen time has taken the place of relationships. Anxiety has become the buzz word and therapists are common among our youth. 

Adults are also lonelier than ever. We have more anxiety and depression than ever recorded before. 

So, what is the deal?

We are pushing our children and ourselves to find our "calling". Find our purpose. Fulfill our destiny. 

Books upon books upon books are written on success. And fulfillment. And keys to happiness. 

When Jesus took a detour from his journey and sought out the woman at the well, we see what love looks like. 

We see Jesus seeking the lost. Seeking the lonely. Seeing the sinner. Seeking the shunned. 

It is so easy to hang out with people that have it all together, or seem like they do. It makes us look better and feel better. 

Jesus did the exact opposite. 

Jesus was about the individual, not the crowd. 

Maybe we have it all backwards. Maybe, just maybe, it is much more simple than we think. 

If the greatest commandment is to Love God and Love others....then isn't that our calling?

To seek the one. Not the many. 

I have been on the receiving end of love like this from a few dear people. 

They reach out. They ask questions. They speak truth. They take the time. 

Today, let's look for an opportunity to love like this. 

To look for the "woman at the well", so to speak. 

Ask God to lead you and show you. 

Someone needs a listening ear. A touch. A hug. An encouraging word. 

Our calling is to Love. 

Pure and simple. 

Search no more. 

going to the well, 

jill