Christian Calling at age 50+

(Part 1: Where You Are Now in Your Calling)

Do you feel stuck in your Christian calling at age 50+? You're not alone!

Biblical evidence and modern Christian research prove that God temporarily holds people in a Calling Valley at this age to equip and strengthen them for the best Mountaintop of their calling, which is yet to come!

In today's blog, you'll learn what that Calling Valley and Mountaintop are like, and you'll get God's encouragement for where you are now in your calling.

The Valley of Identity

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

The reason you feel stuck in your calling at age 50+ is that you are in what Tony Stoltzfus calls the Valley of Identity. He discovered this valley as one of several predictable stages people travel during their lifelong Calling Journey, shown below.

Next, let's explore what your Valley of Identity is (if you're still in it), how it feels, what triggers it, and God's purposes for it.

What your Valley of Identity is:

• The Valley of Identity is the next-to-last multi-year stage of your lifelong Christian Calling Journey.
• It usually occurs at age 50+, but it can occur earlier.

How your Valley of Identity feels at age 50+:

• Your Christian calling feels stalled or even stopped.
• You worry that the best years of your calling are behind you.
• You long to reach the peak—the greatest impact—of your calling. Yet your way forward remains unclear, you’re slogging, and you feel like time is running out.

What triggers your Valley of Identity (one or more of the following):

• An unexpected and painful event, such as a health crisis, job loss, death, or ministry crisis.
• A planned and pleasant event, such as retirement, an empty nest, or a move to a new location.
• A God-ordained sense of restlessness with your current calling role, with no clear idea of what to do next.
• A growing anxiety about never having found a good fit for your calling and fearing you never will.

God’s purposes for your Valley of Identity:

• God wants to grow you into a next-level relationship with Himself.
• He wants to do that for your own sake …
• … and for the sake of your future calling, through which He will impact the world through you as never before.

The Fulfillment Stage

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, Lord, endures forever. (Psalm 138:8)

Next, let's explore the Fulfillment Stage of your calling. At age 50+, you are either in it now, or you are still in your Valley of Identity. You'll learn what the Fulfillment Stage is, how you'll enter and grow in it, and God's purposes for it.

What the Fulfillment Stage is:

• The Fulfillment Stage is the final multi-year stage of the lifelong Christian Calling Journey.
• It usually occurs at age 50+, but it can occur earlier.
• In Fulfillment, you’ll become who God created you to be and do what He created you to do.

How you’ll move from the Valley of Identity to the Fulfillment Stage:

• You’ll start a next-level relationship with God that is stronger and closer than ever before.
• You’ll become more of who God created you to be through your next-level relationship with God.
• You’ll discover and take the first steps of your Fulfillment Calling Role(s), which will fit you better than anything you’ve ever done.

How you’ll keep growing in your Fulfillment Stage:

• You’ll keep growing your next-level relationship with God.
• You’ll keep adding new calling roles as God leads, and you’ll become a confident expert in your strongest calling roles.

God’s purposes for your Fulfillment Stage:

• You’ll enjoy God more than ever.
• You’ll impact the world more than ever.
• You’ll glorify God more than ever.

What About You?

Next, use the prompts below to discover whether you are in your Valley of Identity or your Fulfillment Stage, and how God wants to encourage and lead you, wherever you are.

• In prayer, ask God whether you are in your Valley of Identity or your Fulfillment Stage at age 50+.
• Whether you’re in your Valley of Identity or your Fulfillment Stage, review “God’s Purposes” (see above) for where you are. How do you sense God encouraging, leading, and giving you hope about where you are?

Here’s What's in the Next Blog:

Today, you learned “Where You Are in Your Calling.” You discovered whether you’re in your Valley of Identity or your Fulfillment Stage at age 50+, and you received God’s encouragement and purposes for where you are.The next blog, “Where You’re Going in Your Calling,” focuses on your Fulfillment Stage. Whether you’re already in Fulfillment or not, understanding the Four Phases of Fulfillment will give you additional hope and direction. 

This is the first blog in the four-part series on finding and fulfilling your Christian calling and growing in Christ at age 50+.

All four blogs, with a link to the one before today's blog (the Introduction), are shown below:

      Introduction

1. Where You Are Now in Your Calling
2. Where You’re Going in Your Calling 
3. How You’ll Get Where You’re Going in Your Calling
4. Putting It All Together