Gary Barkalow is the founder of The Noble Heart Ministry an organization dedicated to helping men and women find their calling and hear God’s direction for their life. Gary joins Susie to discuss Jesus’ calling on our lives.
Gary shares two questions that individuals should keep in mind when they feel God’s calling on their lives: What? and When? He explains that a common mistake people make in understanding calling is assuming that every call they feel needs to be immediately applicable.
Gary defines calling as the particular effect of their life that God has created them to have. He adds that this effect is not defined by position, role or place.
“Our calling is to let the world God has assigned us to, that part of the world, that story, experience the effect of our life.”
Key to understanding our calling is understanding the identity we have in Christ. We are his, we are forgiven and we aren’t supposed to be living according to someone else’s pattern. The place to look for our calling is in our own hearts, where Christ dwells.
Susie and Gary talk about the importance of abiding in Christ and finding the sweet spot of using our calling for his purposes.
Gary explains that sometimes we can notice a calling before we understand quite what that calling is. In such situations, burying that calling or staying quiet isn’t effective or honoring to God. He suggests talking with pastors and other important people in our life to help understand what a tug on our hearts means and how it can play out practically.
In the interview Susie and Gary also examine what walking out our callings look like and the obstacles that we can face when we try to do that.
Key Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 8:5
