WEIGHT

If God very clearly speaks something small to you, you don’t need to think much about it, do it. If God tells you something life-altering, it might take some more understanding. Different callings are going to have different weights on your life.

So, part of the process of responding to a calling from God, is seeking him to find out what kind of weight it needs to have on your life.

Acts 16:6-10
Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

God made it very clear to them, that they shouldn’t go into Asia, and then Bithynia.

8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Here we see another call from God, very clearly telling them what to do in a dream. God didn’t say spend the rest of your life there, He said go.

So, any time you hear a calling from God, you need to evaluate the level of weight that God is calling you to, and respond accordingly.

TIMING

Part of working out our calling has to do with figuring out the timing. I think one of the most obvious ways that I see people messing this up, is when they make decisions based on "open and closed doors" that they perceive in their lives.

Obedience doesn’t only happen when God gives you a CLEAR path, and does all the hard work for you. Sometimes, there is a closed door that you need to PRY OPEN, and sometimes there is an open door and you’d be sinning to walk through it.

God leads our timing, not us.

Acts 16:9-10
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Part of Paul’s vision was urgency, and that urgency was key, because one of the people they met in Macedonia was a lady named Lydia, who ended up getting saved, and leading a ton of other people to Jesus, and was a key player in the Philippian church.

Whether you are on the side of arrogant, unsure, or insecure, work with God to understand His timing for what He spoke.

SPECIFICITY

We tend to make things God said either more broad, or more specific than God meant.

Don’t turn something specific into something broad, and don’t turn something broad into something specific.

Remember when Paul (Saul back then) was blinded on the road to Damascus, and God sent Ananias?

Acts 9:10-11
The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul

But Ananias COULD have been like, ‘OH, this must be metaphorical!’

No, he obeyed what God was actually saying, and now we’re reading a New Testament written by God, largely through Paul!

If God speaks something broad, take it that way.
If God speaks something specific, take it that way.
If you aren’t sure, seek God for answers before assuming.

PROCESS

In moments where we’re fully surrendered, we give God space to call us to things we don’t deserve, or aren’t ready for yet.

Many if not most of the things that God calls you to, you are no where near ready for.

Very often, when God calls you to a big thing, He tells you ahead of time because it’s going to be brutally hard. Most of the things worth giving your life to are not easy, they’re often not fun, they’re almost always out of your scope of ability, and they take blood, sweat and tears.

Multiple times in Acts, the followers of Jesus end up in prison for the sake of the Gospel. We groan and complain when the gospel cuts into our sleep habits. We are obsessed with mental health, our comfort and ease, and having "balance" in our lives. Those are good things, but sometimes things just suck
and for the sake of the Gospel, we need to push through!

Acts 16:19b-24
they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

We know in the rest of the story that the jailer gets saved, they get out, and all is well with the world. But, when they were in that jail, they have no idea what came next.

Sometimes, we just need to suffer in the name of following Jesus into our calling.