4 Mistakes Christians Make Discerning Calling (And How to Avoid Them)

“I just want to know what to do with my life.”

A common refrain for young and old Christians alike, this sentiment gets at a deeper, existential question: “How do I know I’m not wasting my life?”

This desire to glorify God, make a difference through our daily work, and do something that feels connected to who we are is good and God-given, but it can also lead us into a space of anxiety and discouragement when we aren’t sure of our calling.

What are some mistakes that Christians may be susceptible to make when discerning their professional calling? Below are four suggestions with ideas for how to avoid making each of them.

mistake #1: waiting for a clear and obvious sign from god

Many of us want to rightly acknowledge God’s provision and plan for our lives. Indeed, the Psalmist writes that while, “The heart of man plans his way, the Lord establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 3:5-6). However, many of us may take that verse to mean that we cannot make any plans of our own before the Lord makes it clear which way to walk.

While we are certainly to ask God to help us be obedient to where He is leading, a lack of a clear “sign” from God does not automatically mean we keep waiting for one. A consistent pattern in Scripture is that God calls faithful men and women to follow Him without offering all the details.

How to avoid it: Rather than being subdued into decision paralysis and passivity, pray that the Lord would guide your steps, that you would walk in His will, and in discerning your vocational path within the context of community, move forward and pursue what you feel led to. God’s will is expansive enough to grant you the freedom of agency, which we can rightly enjoy when we place ourselves under the submission of God’s ways and kingdom.

mistake #2: assuming discernment is a private matter

While we like to think we know ourselves best, we forget that the wisdom of our community — both peers and elders — is an essential gift that we often fail to draw on. As much as we’d like to be, we are not the best objective analyzers of our own gifts, skills, and limitations. Yet, recent research from Barna shows that 56% of Christians believe understanding one’s calling is primarily a solo journey.

How to avoid it: We need to heed the trusted voices of others affirming or questioning the paths we’re considering. Sit down with 5-10 trusted peers and elders who have preferably known you for some time. Tell them about the choices you’re considering and the values you have for your work. Ask them to honestly weigh in. Listen. Scripture testifies to the reality that God often calls us through the voices of others. When we forgo relying on our community and networks for support, we rob them of the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ to us in our process of discernment.

mistake #3: considering our choices as permanent

“When we forgo relying on our community and networks for support, we rob them of the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ to us in our process of discernment.”

For many of us, choosing a career feels terrifying because we have no idea how to project our hopes, desires, and goals for our work ten or forty years into the future. In many ways, we feel the weight of our “yes” because it feels like a “no” to every other option for the rest of our lives. As Dr. Stephanie Schackleford writes, “[Younger generations] are very afraid that if they choose this major or take this job, it’s going to set them on a trajectory that’s going to determine the rest of their life.”

However, consider that the average American will hold 12 different jobs in their lifetime. What if our “yes” is a commitment to the next step in our careers, rather than deciding the entirety of our futures? What if we embraced that, instead of boxing ourselves into one career forever, we were simply faithfully moving where God is leading us at this moment?

How to avoid it: Remember that when making a career choice, you aren’t making a choice that is binding forever. Your choices matter, and indeed many workers do remain in one career for their professional lives, but the work assignment God has for you today could be drastically different than the one He has for you ten years from now. Without that vision into the future, it can often feel stifling to choose one path. As Shackleford emphasizes, “Calling is not a static concept. We’re always growing and changing, and our calling is always morphing as we grow.

mistake #4: looking for the one right or perfect job

“With so many options, how do I know I’m taking the right job God wants for me? If I take the wrong position, will I miss God’s plan for my life?”

.This view of God’s will is like a balance beam that we’re teetering off of at all times: make one wrong move and we’re on the mat. This narrow view of God’s will can create anxiety in Christians who fear making the “wrong” decision. Certainly, there are ways we can actively disobey God’s will for our lives, and that includes our work. What we’re talking about here, though, is considering one career path or job as the only obedient option and considering the rest as inherently wrong.

“The problem isn’t our desire to be satisfied with our work, but rather our belief that in order to be happy, we have to find the one job that will satisfy us...”

Another similar trap that we can fall into is believing there is a perfect job out there for us that will satisfy all of our heart’s desires for our work. To be clear, our longing for meaningful work is good: according to Barna, Christians who find purpose and meaning in their work are more than twice as likely to say they are “very satisfied” with their life.

The problem isn’t our desire to be satisfied with our work, but rather our belief that in order to be happy, we have to find the one job that will satisfy us—something that 75% of Christians believe is out there waiting for us to discover, according to Barna. As Tim Keller explains, whatever is on the other side of, “I could be happy if I just had ______” is an idol for us to lay down at the cross.

How to avoid it: Faithful Christians seeking God’s will for their work need to be reminded that their primary calling is to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Luke 10:27), and out of that worship of God, we can exercise our own God-given agency in choosing how that love of God will be expressed in our professional lives. This agency is not in competition with God’s, but rather in partnership with it as we submit to His ways and acknowledge His sovereignty in our lives.
As Christians, we also must be careful not to view the “perfect job” as the silver bullet to the good life. The counter-cultural message of the kingdom of God is that true, ultimate joy is not found in achievement, but in loving relationship with God. However as Barnabas Piper suggests, “Most of us quietly believe that work can support the weight of our happiness.”
When we expect too much from our work, we’re bound to experience disappointment. As Piper concludes, “Work—like many other things in life—is a means of finding happiness. It’s designed by God and is a good thing. It’s a good hook for the right things, but too weak to hold our hopes for total happiness.” Work shouldn’t make us miserable. It also can’t fulfill us.

getting to the heart of our questions

“Work shouldn’t make us miserable. It also can’t fulfill us.”

In an increasingly complex economy rattled by the ramifications of COVID-19, many Christians may be looking for work or considering a career change. Perhaps the most honest question we can ask ourselves at this time is, “Do I really believe God is with me and for me in this process?”

If we are brave enough to ask the question and still enough to listen for an answer, Scripture testifies to a God that is calling back to us with the same answer He gave Moses, overwhelmed at the calling laid out for him: “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:11).