From Wrestling to Rest: Finding Peace in Your Calling

As a Christian woman, have you ever wrestled with understanding your calling, according to God’s plan? 

“Discover your purpose” has become a buzz phrase in our culture. However, I believe it’s more than a passing trend; knowing your calling is a deep-seated desire God has put within you to discover.  

We might see ourselves created to be nurturers, feeling continually drawn to care for others during each stage of our lives 

We become….

• Wives who take care of husbands.

• Mothers who take care of children.

• Servant leaders who take care of our church family and community.

• Grandmothers who take care of our grandchildren.

• Daughters who take care of our aging parents. 

So it's easy to assume that being “a nurturing woman” is our primary calling.

Likewise, we can fall into believing “What I DO defines my calling.”  

And this is where the wrestling really begins. Because God sees us as so much more than the identities we place on ourselves.

So how do we pause, look beyond our calling as nurturing women, and allow ourselves to see where God first called us…..back to HIMSELF? 

We must see that we are FIRST: 

 His bride

 His child

 His servant leader

 His daughter

It is here that we reclaim our true identity in HIM. 

Maybe you can relate to the following true stories that illustrate the wrestling that often happens when women “walk out” the Kingdom Work that God puts in front of them. (Kingdom Work being the actions that we take in response to our deep desires to fulfill a calling.) 

The Wedding Designer

She buzzed around the wedding venue, attending to the smallest of details.  Although she barely knew the bride, the details still mattered to her. She felt a deep desire within her to help this stressed out bride-to-be, and she knew that God had gifted her with the unique abilities to complete this task: the perfect marriage of creativity and organization.

That year she offered her time helping multiple couples, asking nothing in return, considering this Kingdom work and driven to help others while using her God-given artistic and organizational gifts. 

When multiple people asked if she’d considered starting her own business, she felt confirmation that this was the right direction. 

And the next year, that’s exactly what she did.

The Health Coach

Living a super healthy lifestyle was not a focus for her household growing up. But now that she was an overwhelmed Mom with two young kids she desired to be more intentional about her health. 

As she responded to God showing her the importance of taking care of her body,  she felt less overwhelmed. 

Over the span of several months the physical, mental, and emotional transformation was so impactful she considered competing in a Woman’s BodyBuilding Competition. Deep down this was so much more than the results of her body, a title, or even a trophy; it was an opportunity to press into the Holy Spirit’s strength for something far beyond anything she’d ever imagined doing. 

After the competition she felt an eagerness to continue learning about all aspects of health and wellness. This turned into a yearning to coach and come alongside other women who wanted transformation for themselves. She felt this was a privilege and a calling that gave her the opportunity to “love on” God's people in a brand-new way. 

The Homeschool Mom

Her heart sank as she looked at her frustrated 8-year-old son from across the kitchen peninsula. She was trying to keep him focused on his homework as she prepared dinner.

It pained her to make him push through this extra work given to him when he was so clearly depleted from his day at school. On this particular day he was DONE — he had nothing left to give. 

She never felt equipped to homeschool, although she always admired moms that did. But now, she felt the Holy Spirit nudging her to pray and consider this huge endeavor to homeschool her children. 

Nine years later she sits across from her now 17-year-old son in the local coffee shop talking to him about his goals and how he’ll be finishing his senior year. They’ve had quite a journey through his homeschooling years. Her son had lots of struggles, but by high school he was taking online courses and managing his own schedule … though they still talked through the challenging parts together. 

Now, she’s telling him how proud she is of him and how she sees the responsible young man he has become. Without a doubt, homeschooling her children became her Kingdom work. 

The Writer

She never wanted to be a writer. In fact during high school and beyond it was quite a laborsome task to complete an assigned paper for her classes. 

Several years later she realized that God was asking her to be transparent about her messy life journey — through the written word. 

For years she blogged her unpolished thoughts on her website and social media. She dug deep, asking the Lord to help her share those vulnerable words. 

Over the years she worked and wrestled with the skill of writing. She was surprised to discover that the vulnerable stories she shared about herself often blessed others who recognized themselves in her struggles. 

More recently she heard, “Have you ever thought about publishing?”

This seemed like a scary pursuit to her. She sought the Lord:Was publishing her writing something He was calling her to do? What would “publishing” even look like?Might it give her a wider reach to connect with more women?

Each of these stories shows a vastly different perspective on what God's call to His Kingdom work might look like.

But I'll let you in on a little secret….

These aren’t different stories at all.

They’re actually pieces of one story: my story! 

Each time God transitioned me – from wedding designer to bodybuilding competitor to health coach to homeschooling mom to writer – I wrestled with what my calling truly was. The truth is my “purpose” was never in any one of those roles He gave me. 

What I discovered is that true calling stems from a deep understanding of the identity of Jesus Christ. When you get to know Him — intimately understanding His character and modeling His character in every opportunity that God puts in front of you — it’s then that you live in obedience to His purpose for you according to Ephesians 4:1, “walk worthy of your calling in which you were called ” (NKJV).  

I encourage you to take time to inventory the various roles God has invited you into over your lifetime and notice where your obedience took you. You might ask yourself these questions:

• Did my obedience allow me to use a gift God gave me to bless other people?

• Did my obedience stretch my faith in ways I never thought possible and transform me in a way that would later impact others?  

• Did my obedience meet another person's needs that they never would have been able to meet themself? 

• Did my obedience give others permission to take similar steps to change things in their own lives? 

Your answers might surprise you, revealing that you've been fulfilling your purpose all along. No doubt, there will be more wrestling as you continue on the journey. But you’ll find peace as you walk in that obedience. And you'll move forward with  peace-full confidence as you purposefully carry out the Kingdom work He’s given you.

Author Melissa MacGregor is a Healthy Lifestyle Mentor and writer passionate about equipping women to cultivate their lives and homes with God-honoring, healthy rhythms. Her devotionals are written from a place of vulnerability and truth, reflecting on the challenges that God has brought her through in her own life and health journey.

For more information www.melissakmacgregor.com