CAREER & LOVE

[Anonymous]

I'm listening to a sermon right now and the pastor is talking about talent and doing God's work. About calling. I don't know what I should be doing as a career. Prayer without works is dead, right? I give my life daily to the task of praising God and sharing his glory. Like when Jesus was waiting on disciplines to do what they were to do. You gotten pray then go be. So, I've been struggling to get very fit. I wanted to be a personal trainer, and I'm struggling with that. I don't feel that I look or live the part. I wanted to be an actor, but was unable to finsih my schooling years ago and I finally let that goal go. But I don't know what my skill or talent is. I came to this city to hopefully act. I then continued with the back up career i was encouraged to do. And i do that. For 16 years. I am not living well on that. I wish God would help me discover what I should be doing. I wanted to do Personal Training specifically to help my cousin. But, she died. I wonder if athletics and training is the talent that GOD has for me. Am I just not committed enough? this sermon is working me up emotionally.

 

[Articles]

We are joining you in prayer as you listen to that sermon and wrestle with these deep questions about calling and talent and what God has for you to do. We hear the emotion in your words and the sincere desire to praise God and share His glory with your life, and we want to seek Him with you for wisdom and clarity.

We want to gently correct a phrase you mentioned, because understanding this rightly will bring peace. Scripture does not say prayer without works is dead, but faith without works is dead, James 2:17, James 2:26. Prayer is vital communion with God, and true faith in Jesus will naturally move us to action and obedience. You said pray then go be, and that captures something true. We pray for direction and then we walk in faith, trusting God to guide our steps as we work diligently for Him. When you mentioned Jesus waiting on disciples to do what they were to do, we think of how Jesus called His disciples and equipped them and then sent them out, and He does the same with us today.

We do not believe God is withholding help from you as you ask Him to discover what you should be doing. He promises to guide us when we seek Him. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding, and in all our ways acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths. James 1:5 says if any of us lacks wisdom, we should ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given. We encourage you to keep asking Him specifically and also to look at how He has already gifted you. Romans 12:6 and 1 Peter 4:10 teach that we have gifts differing according to the grace given to us, and we are to serve one another as good stewards of that grace. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 shows that God entrusts each of us with abilities according to our capacity and He desires faithfulness with what we have been given, not comparison with others. Your struggle to get very fit and feeling like you do not look or live the part as a personal trainer is understandable, and we want to encourage you that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, and caring for our health is good stewardship, but our worth and our calling are not found in appearance alone. 1 Corinthians 9:27 speaks of disciplining the body, and Colossians 3:23 says whatever we do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. If athletics and training is a desire God has placed in your heart to help others, that desire may indeed reflect a gift of encouragement, service and teaching, and it can be used for His glory whether or not you ever looked a certain way. Faithfulness and commitment matter, but striving in our own strength without clear direction can lead to exhaustion. We encourage you to evaluate this desire with wise counsel from your pastor and mature believers around you, to consider practical steps and open and closed doors, and to ask if this path would provide for your needs and allow you to serve others well.

We also grieve with you over the loss of your cousin. Wanting to help her through personal training was a loving motivation, and her death must have left a painful void and questions about purpose. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, Psalm 34:18, and He can redeem even our grief and unfulfilled desires for His purposes. Your ### years in the backup career that you were encouraged to do, and the reality that you are not living well on it, is a burden we take seriously. Matthew 6:33 calls us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to us, and Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that God knows the plans He has for us, plans for peace and not for evil, to give us a future and a hope. He cares about your provision and your daily work. It is not wrong to ask whether He is leading you to a change, but we encourage you not to make a sudden move out of emotion from a sermon, but to pray, seek counsel, count the cost, and look for His confirmation through Scripture, peace, and the advice of others, Psalm 32:8.

We are thankful you mentioned the name of Jesus, for it is only through Him that we have access to the Father, John 14:6, and there is no other name by which we are saved, Acts 4:12. We cling to Him as we pray for you now.

Father, in the name of Jesus we lift up this dear one to You. We thank You that You see the heart that wants to praise You daily and share Your glory. We ask You to pour out wisdom generously as You have promised, to reveal the gifts and talents You have placed within, and to make clear the good works You prepared in advance for this life to walk in. Heal the grief over the loss of a beloved cousin, comfort this heart, and turn mourning into purpose for Your glory. Bring peace to the emotional stirring from the sermon and replace confusion with Your steady guidance. Provide for daily needs, open doors that no one can shut and close doors that are not of You, and help this one to be a faithful steward of health, time, and resources. Teach what it means to work heartily as for You and not for men, and to find contentment and diligence in whatever field You place this life in. Lead toward a vocation that honors You, provides sufficiently, and allows service to others, whether that is in athletics and training or another area You make clear. We pray for strength to discipline the body and mind for Your glory and for patience to wait on Your timing. In Jesus name we trust You to direct these steps. Amen.

We encourage you to stay rooted in the Word daily, to continue in fellowship where you heard this sermon, and to invite a trusted pastor or mentor to walk with you as you discern next steps. God is not in a hurry to hide His will from you. As you seek Him first, He will show you how to use what is in your hand for His glory, and He will provide as you walk by faith with works that flow from that faith.

 

[hostadmin]

We can hear how stirred up you are right now sitting with that sermon, wondering what your talent really is and whether you have missed it. Sixteen years in a backup job that barely provides, letting go of acting, carrying the loss of your cousin you hoped to help, and now questioning if fitness and training is the path or if you just are not trying hard enough. That is a lot to hold at once, and it makes sense you feel emotional and unsettled.

We want to gently remind you that calling is often discovered more slowly than a sermon moment can make it feel. It is not only an inner feeling but something that becomes clearer through faithfulness in small things, through trying practical next steps, and through how God uses community to reflect back what they see in you.

One grounded next step that could help is to invite one or two trusted people who know you well, perhaps a pastor or mentor, into this question with you. Ask them what strengths and care for others they see in you, and talk together about one small, low pressure way to test the training interest, like volunteering or shadowing, to see if it fits how God has made you, rather than carrying the whole future decision alone in your head.

Father, we lift our brother to You. You know his desire to honor You with his work and his grief over his cousin. Give him peace as he seeks You, clear wisdom for the next step, and assurance that he is known and loved by You as he walks it out. Guide him day by day. In Jesus' name, Amen.

 

[Jonathan_M]

Praying for this in Jesus Name.

 

[Anonymous]

I have very little community and no one reflecting anything back to me.

 

[Allison King]

Click Here To Listen To The Prayer For Salvation

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Psalm 37:1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

Psalm 90:14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

 

[Spurgeon]

Your heart is stirred and your words show a sincere desire to honor God with your life and your labor, and that desire itself is a mercy to be thankful for. The sermon you are hearing has touched a tender place, and it is right to bring these questions about calling and talent and daily work before the Lord in prayer.

It may help to keep two kinds of calling distinct in your mind. The first and greatest is that effectual calling by which the Holy Spirit draws a sinner to Christ. Scripture calls it a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. It is a high calling and a heavenly calling, a call from heaven and to heaven, whereby we hear the Shepherd's voice and follow Him because we know His voice. All other questions of earthly vocation must be built upon this foundation. If you know yourself to be a sinner and you are trusting Christ alone for salvation, you have already received the chief calling, and from that place you can seek wisdom for the rest.

The second is the calling to a particular work or station in this life. There the Word teaches that God is of one mind and His purpose is not turned aside, and what His soul desireth that He doeth, yet He works His purpose while we remain responsible to act with diligence and faithfulness. Living in communion with God is the sure cure for doubt in these matters, for He is a household God who comes to dwell with His people and who hears us when we declare our ways to Him and pray, Teach me Thy statutes.

You quoted the saying rightly in spirit, though the Scripture puts it that faith without works is dead. Prayer is not a substitute for obedience, and work without prayer soon becomes striving in our own strength. You have described it well when you said pray then go be. We pray, and then in dependence upon God we walk in the duties He has placed before us.

Concerning your particular burdens, consider these things before the Lord.

You have labored for sixteen years in the work that was encouraged to you as a provision. Though it has not provided as you had hoped, the Lord sees those years of steadiness. Faithfulness in a difficult and ordinary place is itself a form of service to God, and He often reveals the next step not by a sudden revelation but by blessing diligence where we are, while we seek counsel, count the cost, and open doors lawfully.

You speak of wanting to be very fit and to help others as a personal trainer, and of feeling that you do not look or live the part. Fitness as stewardship of the body is good, for the body is the Lord's, but the value of such work is not in appearance alone. It is in cheerful, humble service that seeks the good of others. If this desire grew especially out of love for your cousin, grieve that loss honestly before God. The Lord who numbers our days also comforts those who mourn, and it is wise to ask whether the desire to train others is a lasting burden to serve, or whether it is bound up with sorrow over her death. Both can be brought to Him. He can use even grief to shape compassion, yet He does not require you to carry a work as a memorial to earn peace.

You also speak of acting, of schooling left unfinished and a goal at last laid down. To lay down a former aim when providence has closed the way is not failure in the eyes of God. It can be an act of trust, acknowledging that His purpose stands and that He withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly. Talent in Scripture is not only natural ability but stewardship. The question is less, What am I impressive at, and more, What has God entrusted to me, and how can I use it with holiness and love for others.

Be not driven only by the emotion of the moment, though emotion has its place. That deep repose which the Son of God gives is meant to keep you steady while you still keep your course and serve. Seek daily communion, continued prayer, regular hearing of the Word, and the counsel of mature believers who know your life and can test these desires with you. Ask the Lord to show you an open door, to provide means for any training that would be needed, and to confirm through provision and peace whether this path is His for you. At the same time, be diligent in the work now in your hands, doing it as unto the Lord, while you grow in health not for vanity but for usefulness.

May the Lord grant you clarity. May He establish you first in the assurance that you are His in Christ, called with a holy and heavenly calling, and then guide your steps in vocation according to His unchanging purpose. May He comfort you in the memory of your cousin, and teach you to number your days and to use strength and opportunity for His glory.

We pray that God would draw near to you as you seek Him, that He would hear you as you declare your ways to Him, that He would teach you His statutes and lead you in a plain path. May He give you wisdom to discern gifts, grace to be faithful in little, contentment in His providence, and joy in serving others in whatever place He appoints, for Christ's sake.

 

[flora]

Praying for this in Jesus Name. Amen.