When God Says “Yes” … Then, “No”

The call was clear. We knew we were supposed to pursue a new, previously unconsidered ministry. God had told us, “Yes, go for it. This is where I want you.” It just wasn’t something we would have thought up on our own. And so we did.

And then God said, “No.”

We think.

The amount of prayer and counsel that went into our decision to pursue this was phenomenal to us. I’m not sure we even prayed this much about getting married 13 years ago! Everything and everyone was telling us “yes, this is a perfect fit.” We were a little staggered by the overwhelming affirmation.

Without getting too specific, the particular kind of service we sought required several levels of approval from outside sources. At the final level, our efforts were denied. There appears to be no recourse.

So my question today revolves around that confusing thing we call “a calling.” I’m not talking about our primary calling to be in relationship with God. I mean the secondary calling each of us has or will have in what we do to join God in His work.

The English word “vocation” comes from the Latin word “vocare,” which means “to call.” A vocational calling is a summons from God to use one’s gifts in the world through one’s activities. For many of us, this can include our role in the family, our jobs, perhaps volunteer opportunities. We find fulfillment in doing something that matters, that makes a difference for God, while bringing together those gifts and abilities He gave us.

We thought we’d found it. Now we are not sure what to think of this process. We do know that the process was designed by God and will be used by Him. He prompted, and we obeyed. That’s gotta be good, right? But the end is not what we thought it would be.

And so we must trust Him in the fuzzy confusion of a calling denied. Perhaps when the disappointment fades we will see the “greater” work He was doing in our lives when He took us through this process. Perhaps we won’t ever find out.

There’s a part of me that suspects God used this secondary calling to help develop a stronger primary calling–we have grown closer to Him through this, and He’s asking us to trust Him again. Maybe He’s got something completely different in mind for us.

I don’t know for sure. So I guess I’ll trust Him for the next step, too.