It’s easy to take for granted this idea of a calling and the deep-seated passion that God has dropped into our hearts for it as something that is irrevocable. And, to a certain extent, that’s true. But, as will anything, there is a large amount of responsibility on our end regarding how we respond to that: What we do with it, how we allow it to shape us, and how we press into God with it all along the way. In this episode, we look at all of that.

I lay out the three ways that you can lose your calling and, in doing so, shore up any areas of our lives that are vulnerable to them – beginning with a surprising woman who typically isn’t associated with this kind of lost-calling conversation. I can’t wait to have you along for the conversation!

Hi, friend! Welcome back to the Dig Your Well Podcast! We’re going to explore a topic in this episode that I’m not sure I’ve ever even thought about before until I began deep-diving into all things giftings and callings. But I think that we sort of take for granted this idea of a calling and this deep-seated passion that God has dropped into our hearts that is in full alignment with what He has planned for our lives is something that is irrevocable. And, to a certain extent, that’s true. But, as will anything, there is a large amount of responsibility on our end regarding how we respond to that. What we do with it. How we allow it to shape us. And how we press into God with it all along the way.

So, we’re going to take a look at all of that today. We’re going to look at the three different ways that you can lose your calling and, in doing so, shore up any areas of our lives that are vulnerable to them – beginning with a surprising woman who typically isn’t associated with this kind of lost-calling conversation: Namely, Esther. I know, you probably wouldn’t have guessed that name was going to come out of my mouth because she is the opposite of that, right? But there is a really strong warning that is tucked away in the Hebrew linguistics of her story that I really want you to see, and it’s the first of the three things that can kill your calling:

Fear

You really need to listen to the episode to get the full details of this, but, for the purpose of this post, I’ll summarize:

Esther, a secret Jew, was a Persian queen. Mordecai, a not-so-secret Jew raised Esther, and also very publicly scorned the Persian king’s second-in-command (Haman). That man then hatched a plan to kill all Jews. Makes sense, right? So, Esther learns of the plot and sends one of her eunuchs (Hathach) to be a surreptitious go-between to carry on a conversation between her and the notoriously disrespectful Jewish man whom she should otherwise have no business speaking with.

Now, I want to reiterate again: Esther communicated to Mordecai through Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend to her. The Hebrew word that’s used for “appointed” in Esther 4:5 is ‘amad, and, in the context of verse five, the word means “make a servant to.” Had Hathach refused to help her communicate with Mordecai (whom he surely knew as the man who refused to bow to Haman), she would have found someone else to do it, which is precisely what Mordecai explained to her when it came to her royal position in the palace.

When, in Esther 4:14, Mordecai assured her that if she remained silent, relief and deliverance would arise from another place, he used that same ‘amad word. And then there is the “another” word for in phrase “from another place”. Generically, it means “elsewhere,” but there is extra emphasis on the “another” being one who follows a first or the one who comes second. Esther knew all about that “another” – she was Vashti’s “another.” Mordehai was her father’s “another.” They all fulfilled the same purpose and walked out the same plan. They were just another person accomplishing those purposes and plans when the first could not (or would) not do it.

Esther stood in danger of losing her calling because of fear, but she set that fear aside and did the hard, impossible, scary thing that she was created to do and, as a result, had a front-row seat to God’s jaw-dropping glory. When your Esther-moment comes, and you know He’s holding out your calling, don’t let someone else step into it in your place. Gather your gall and put it on because, if you don’t, there is someone else waiting in line who will. And. I promise you this: they won’t regret putting it on for one second.

Pride

With this in mind, take a glance over at Isaiah 22:15-25. When you read this story, you will see God is speaking to a man named Shebna, through the prophet Isaiah, and tells Shebna that He will call His servant Eliakim and He will clothe him with Shebna’s robe and strengthen him with Shebna’s belt. That right there, that one detail alone, ties you back to Esther’s story when she took Vashti’s place as queen and was literally clothed with her royal robes.

The positional switch between Eliakim and Shebna isn’t recorded in Scripture, but it was prophesied of. The cross-reference to his name in Isaiah 22 points to 2 Kings 18 after this switch has already happened. But, the question is: Why did it happen in the first place?

Isaiah 22:16 gives you that answer: in the time that he held his highly-esteemed position with the King of Judah, Shebna eventually became too preoccupied with himself to worry about anyone else. His pride had gotten the better of him. He was much more concerned with people thinking he was important than doing the important work he was positioned for. 

Where Esther stood in danger of losing her calling because of fear, Shebna actually lost his because his pride got the best of him. He didn’t set it aside like Esther – he embraced it instead. He couldn’t be faithful in the responsibilities God had given him, so God re-assigned them to someone else. Listen: God didn’t need Shebna any more than He needs you or me to accomplish something. He is just kind enough to allow us to be a part of it.

Satan’s Whispering

Now, so far, we’ve talked about how both fear and pride can kill your calling. And, before I go, I want to flip this conversation on its side a little bit because there is another side of this that isn’t really talked about that much. And it’s that sometimes Satan can trick you into thinking that your calling is an idol just to get you to let go of it. Hang with me as I explain this:

There is a really fine balance between walking in the obedience of your calling and walking in the worship of it. I’m pretty sure Shebna could tell you all about that. And I know that to be true personally.  I love speaking. Give me a microphone and a stage and my entire body lights up like Christmas. I love studying the Bible. And I love teaching women how to study. I want more of it. I can’t get enough of it. And there was point last year as I studied to teach a couple hundred women in a weekend away together, just three weeks after speaking to a couple hundred other women on the other side of the country, that I was having trouble discerning if I wanted the increase for me and my name, or if I wanted it for His. You have to understand: there have been so many times that I’ve tried letting go of this. I’ve tried walking away from it, giving it back to God. Telling Him to give it to someone else. But, as I prayed, and begged God for discernment on why I was wanting more of this so badly, He showed me what was happening. Why I kept trying to get rid of it. It happened when I was at the store, pushing my cart down the aisle, and my three-year-old hopped onto the side of it, pulling its steering with his weight. I struggled to get the cart pointed straight again, had to push harder with my left arm to counteract his weight hanging there on that left side.

Listen: it’s very easy for Satan to hang on to your calling the way my three-year-old hung onto the side of that cart, pulling it with his weight. Satan wants to pull that cart toward idol worship and away from the pure obedience of what God has called you to do. That’s what he was doing to me – trying to convince me to let go of the cart. To walk away from it. The wheel is broken. It’s of no use. It doesn’t drive straight. Whatever it is, just leave it there because it’s more work than its worth. Satan wants to sink his poisonous teeth into your calling the way the serpent did into Paul’s hand in Acts 28. But Paul? He just shook that snake off. Literally, he shook his hand and off it fell. The snake bite didn’t phase him.

Satan is going to do whatever he can to sink his teeth into your calling to kill it. And if he can’t kill it, he’ll do his darndest to make you think you misheard God. He’ll point at your hand, then point at Isaiah 44:20, and make you question it all so that you think that what you are holding in your right hand is a lie and not a calling, just like he did with Eve in Genesis 3. Did God really say that? 

In order to step into your calling and walk in the pure and glorious obedience of it? You have to learn to drown out the noise. To swallow down fear. To daily and diligently pluck out the seeds of pride. And to throw all of your weight onto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith and the fulfiller of your calling. It is a daily fight to keep this cart going straight. So I ask God daily, which part of this am I clinging to today? God slap my hand down if it’s clinging to anything but You and Your glory.

Want to listen to the full episode? You can find it here!

Thanks so much for listening!