A lot of times in life, we find ourselves in seasons and places we never expected. Sometimes those places even make us question the very call God has placed on our lives. When things don’t look like we imagined, it’s easy to feel like maybe we missed it, maybe we got it wrong, or maybe God has forgotten about us. But here’s something I didn’t understand for a long time: that’s okay. It’s okay to not understand why you are where you are. It’s okay to not have every answer. Our job isn’t to figure everything out, our job is to trust God and be faithful where He has us.
From a young age, I felt called into ministry. At first, I didn’t know what that meant, only that I wanted to be a part of the church. As I grew older, I assumed that call meant becoming a youth pastor. It made sense to me, so I went to college to study youth ministry. I had a very clear picture in my mind of how my life was supposed to go: graduate, get hired at a church, and step right into my calling.
But that didn’t happen. Graduation came and went, and the position I thought was waiting for me wasn’t there. I felt stuck, like maybe I had misunderstood God’s voice all along. Those were hard moments, moments of doubt, questioning, and even disappointment.
And yet, through it all, I learned something important: my calling is not limited to a position or a title. My calling and your calling too is about living a life of faithfulness to God.
The truth is, your calling will look different from other people’s. And often, it will even look different from what you first expected when you sensed God’s call. Maybe you thought you’d already be in full-time ministry by now. Maybe you thought the doors would open faster, or that your calling would follow a straight and simple path. But more often than not, God leads us in unexpected ways.
What I’ve come to realize is that God doesn’t call us to one title, one role, or one idea. He calls us to Himself. He calls us to live a life that pursues Him wholeheartedly and trusts His timing. And sometimes, the detours and delays we face are the very things He uses to shape us for the future He has prepared.
Proverbs 3:5–6 (NIV) says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
That verse has become an anchor for me. Because the truth is, I don’t always understand the “why” behind where God has me. But that’s not what He’s asking of me. He doesn’t ask me to know, He asks me to go. To trust Him with all my heart. To submit to Him daily. To believe that even when I can’t see the bigger picture, He’s still leading me.
So no matter where you find yourself in your own journey, I want to encourage you: remain faithful. If you’re in a season of waiting, trust that God is working even when you can’t see it. If you’re walking a path that looks different than you expected, believe that He is guiding your steps.
We have not been called to know; we have been called to go. And when we do, God promises to make our path straight.
Keep trusting. Keep going. And in every season, keep chasing after Him.
