Challenge 44. Blog 1.
Today's the Day!
It's the first day of Challenge 44! I'm writing the first of 44 blogs in 90 business days, and all of the blogs will be about some aspect of finding and fulfilling Christian calling. God's purpose is to transform my writing for His wonderful purposes, and to help you find and fulfill your Christian calling.
Thank you for joining me on this journey! I hope you will feel free to encourage all of us, comment, ask questions, share struggles, and suggest blog topics in the comment section at the bottom of the page.
The timing of Challenge 44 couldn't be better for me. God gave me the idea two weeks ago. I had just completed an online course that equipped me to do it. I had scheduled a one-week staycation the following week, so I could rest before starting Challenge 44. My volunteer church responsibilities are on temporary summer-hold, so I have more time now for Challenge 44. And it is now a little more than 90 business days until Thanksgiving, the perfect time frame for Challenge 44. Seeing God's perfect timing was such great encouragement that He is in it.
So I wrote the introductory blog post for Challenge 44, set up emails to be automatically sent to the people who follow my ministry, and arranged the first automatic social media posts for publicity.
And then my vacation started, one week before I could launch completely into this next phase of my calling. God's timing? Absolutely!
But...
God Says Do Less in My Calling. What Does It Mean?
During the first couple of days of my vacation, my excitement about Challenge 44 grew into obsessiveness. I thought of so many ways I could improve the introductory post, emails, social media posts, etc. I could add more interesting images, polish up the writing, add more stories, etc. So I did some of that, with a nagging feeling that it wasn't right.
God had already told me that the main purpose of Challenge 44 was growing me and my writing skills. I wanted the main purpose to be helping you and many other people in Christian calling. And God told me that is already happening, and it will happen more in the future. But for Challenge 44, I needed to focus on my own learning and development.
When I focused on my purposes for my calling instead of His, my calling suffered, and so did I.
I kept hearing God say, "You're doing too much. You're trying to do my part. Do less. Trust me with all of the things you could do well but don't have time for. Otherwise, you won't have the time or discernment to advance to the next level of your Christian calling."
Wow!
Doing less and accomplishing more in my calling means doing my part and allowing God to do His. It means that I don't obsessively and perfectionistically take primary responsibility for success, and I know deep in my heart that He does that, not me.
So here's what "doing less to accomplish more" meant for me:
- Stop all work on vacation. Yes, God said ALL WORK. I didn't do that at first, but after a couple of days, I did, and I reaped the blessings of renewal and trust in God.
- After vacation, discern how much time is available to write blogs, and don't over-reach that. That's teaching me to focus and prioritize more quickly and trust God with what's left undone.
What would "doing less to accomplish more" mean in God's plan for your calling?
7 Reasons for "Doing Less" in My Calling
I told God that I would be much more motivated to do no work on my vacation, and I would be much less obsessive about getting all of the details done, if He would give me reasons to do that! God told me that I could not know all of the reasons to obey Him in this! 🙂 But He gave me these, and they helped me a lot. I hope they will help you too.
- 1God gets the credit when I don't obsessively try to do His part.
Yes, sometimes it's hard to know what's my part and what's God's part! Christian calling is sometimes hard and tedious. But God will give us the time, energy, and ability to do what He's called us to do. When we discover that we simply can't do it all, it's time to ask what parts we need to trust to God, even if it seems counterintuitive. Example: It made sense to me to do all I could to improve the quality of my blog, email, and social media post. But doing so would mean I could not finish the blog at all. Solution: Trust God with what I didn't have time for. - 2When I "do less," I do better.
When we do our best and trust God at the edge of not being able to do more, He fills the gaps. Example: Because I'm doing 30 blog posts in 30 days, I don't have time to make images for social media posting, even though social media gurus say that's essential. But when I just posted heart-felt text with no pictures on Facebook, I got more responses than when I've used images. God at work! - 3God's purposes—not mine—get accomplished.
When I try to accomplish my own purposes in addition to His, neither gets accomplished, and I get frustrated. But when I focus on His purposes, and not my own, He blesses His purposes, and He often surprises me by accomplishing some of my own. Example: God told me that His primary purpose in Challenge 44 is to grow me and my writing. He will also help you and other people through it, but my focus is supposed to be His purpose. So I'm focusing more on learning after each blog post, not on how many people sign up for Challenge 44. - 4Rest and recreation fuel my life and calling.
I'm a firm believer in Sabbath and sanity. That's why I'm writing 44 blogs in 90 business days instead of 90 days straight. See my blog about that by clicking here. Example: I have been faithfully observing a day off for at least the last 15 years, with few exceptions. However, even doing that, I have still occasionally experienced burnout. I'll write a blog about burnout later! - 5I set a good example for others.
Trying to do too much is not noble. It's often hard to know where the line is. But obsessive perfectionism is foolhardy, and it expresses distrust that God will do His part in fulfilling our life and calling. Instead, living life and doing ministry in humble obedience to His principles of faith, rest, and sabbath sets a good example to those with whom we live and minister. Example: I want to set a good example for you by working hard in my calling while also following God's admonitions to rest and have faith in Him. As you have already read above, it "works"! - 6I address potential burnout early.
Psychiatrist Robert Coles discovered this progression in people who burn out: weariness, cynicism, bitterness, despair, depression, burnout. The earlier these symptoms are recognized and solutions found, the least likely you are to experience full-blown burnout in your Christian calling. Example: Before and during my vacation, I recognized weariness. After some initial obsessiveness and perfectionism, I decided to follow God into rest and recreation and trust Him. - 7My joy, faith, and fruitfulness grow.
Christian calling will indeed at times be incredibly and inexplicably hard. There's no way around that. But why make it unnecessarily harder for ourselves? When we heed God's prompt to "do less" so that He can do more, we glorify and serve Him. Example: This is an ongoing journey for me too. I'm the epitome of Type A Personality. I work and play hard. I love conquering mountains. But I am learning that God has always done the conquering, not me. I'm glad we're on the journey together!
Bible Verses for Trusting God in Your Calling
Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will direct your paths.
Psalms 37:4-6:
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.
Romans 8:28:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Psalm 9:10:
Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Jeremiah 29:11:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Why It Matters
During the second day of my vacation, I was chomping at the bit to just write a tiny little email to all of you about signing up for Challenge 44.
But here's what I heard from God about that:
God's words to me:
You could write this email. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t seem that big. After all, when you make mistakes, and even when you sin, I’ll still love you, and I will still work through you. But you’re approaching the next level of your calling. You need to be able to trust me in these kinds of ways. Stop taking so much upon yourself. Trust me even when you know what to do but don’t have time or bandwidth to do them in healthy ways. You’ll need to do that, moving forward. It’s one of the big things—and it’s the FIRST thing chronologically—that I want you to learn during Challenge 44.
I can think of lots of ways I could improve this blog. But I'm out of time, and I'm going to practice what I preach. I'm going to trust God accomplish His purposes anyway!
Burnout? Who? Me? I don’t think so! But my burnout turned into a huge Bonfire! It started out with a little spark, a little smoke, it smoldered and sizzled and grew for nearly a year, and then, well, and then God! I’m now recovering and moving forward. There is a new blue sky! Thank you R.J. for listening to Him and doing this project!
Thank you, Barb! I’d love to hear more. I’ll call you soon! God bless, my wonderful friend!
After a second review of the seven reasons, and from my perspective as a “person who likes to have a plan”, reasons 1, 2 and 3 are inter-related to my calling journey challenges – not obsessing over God’s part, doing less, seeking God’s purpose. This is not instinctively how I function and perhaps true for others with similar personality types. I believe it might be summed up by the phrase – feeling the need to be in control :-). Would like to learn more about stopping my plan BEFORE I get to far into MY plan; then turning to God to seek guidance and wisdom about my plan and His part.
Thank you, Paula, for your openness and transparency!
Hmm. Stopping my plan BEFORE I get too far into My plan. Yep, sounds like a winner for a blog topic! Thank you!
God is using your words to confirm the message He has been impressing upon my heart. I would love to read your meditations on balanced living: seeking-trusting, learning-doing, whatever comes to your mind. God brought your chemistry background to my mind just now. 🙂 Some equations are more difficult to balance than others. Thanks for your faithfulness!!
Thank you, Amy, for the idea about balanced living. I will indeed write a blog about that. God bless!
Thanks so much for your comment, Jennifer!
I do plan to do a blog on burnout, as suggested by Pat above.
God bless!
I’m struggling with knowing God’s plan and showing up and being present. I have a health issue I’m tackling and trying not to get burned out from the plethora of mixed messages. So, I think I’ll pray and just go with God.
For the past five years I have been working through my calling journey to identify what I believe are God’s intention for my calling and working toward the fulfillment stage of my life. This blog gave me renewed insight into how God already knows the timeline for my life. And, no matter how good I become at realizing my God given talents and gifts and in developing plans to use all that God has granted me, it is still God’s plan and his timing I must seek, honor and follow.
This blog covered a lot of information/ideas…perhaps you could write a blog on each of the “7 reasons”
Hi, Paula! Thanks so much for the encouragement and feedback!
I do indeed plan to write a blog about burnout, as Pat suggested above.
I’m not sure I would have enough to say about all of the seven items. Is there any particular one or two that especially interest you?
Beautifully written RJ!
Thank you, Terri! Please do let me know if you have any ideas for topics you’d like to see in future blogs. God bless!
I understand the idea of doing less as a means to enable us to totally depend on God and give Him total glory for all that He’s doing through us in our Christian calling.
Also to help us to wait upon Him as He prepares us for the next exploits in the assignment.
More grace to you in Jesus name.
And to you as well, Ezekiel! Thanks so much for your encouragement. I would love to hear any ideas you have for future blogs!
not sure what to say under Website (I am often technology challenged)
I very much like the idea about my doing less and turning it over to God. I especially understand all the words that describe burnout.
thanks for this 90 day challenge.
Your comment came through fine, Fran, so no worries! 🙂
I’m enjoying the journey with everyone. Thanks again for your encouragement!
Thanks for bringing us along on your Journey, RJ! In the past few years I have learned to really enjoy doing less!
Your comments on how burnout progresses spoke to me: “weariness, cynicism, bitterness, despair, depression, burnout.” I am reminded to note these in myself early, and would like to hear more about how we can break the cycle in ourselves.
Thank you, Pat! Good food for thought. Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of experience with severe burnout myself. Sounds like an idea for a future blog! Thanks for suggesting it!