History is full of call stories. Ever since Abraham was called by God to form a nation that sought after God, histories, peoples, and cultures have created a series of call stories to help us understand how we seek after our creator.
Moses had his burning bush.
David had his giant.
Jonah had his whale.
Jesus had the wilderness.
Those are a few ancient examples.
But the tradition continues.
Gandhi fought peacefully for a free India.
Martin Luther King waged war on the unjust Jim Crow laws.
Nelson Mandela overthrew the apartheid government of South Africa.
In each case, deep within these leaders, was a blossoming call story, a realization that they were called to accomplish something in their life.
C.A.L.L.
Often, we can overcomplicate the idea of a call story. We think they need to be grandiose and spectacular.
Maybe they are.
Or they might just feel that way to the person being called.
If you feel like you’re having trouble figuring out why you’re here, think through the C.A.L.L. acronym. Once you’re clear on these four points, you’re well on your way to living your call.
C – Cause
The first part of your C.A.L.L. is always about a cause.
It’s the why of your mission. The aspect of you as a unique creation that is urging you to make a difference in the world.
Michael Hyatt has said, “People lose their way when they lose their why.”
Your unique call story is no different. Find the cause of justice in the world that is burning so deep inside of you that it cannot be stopped.
One ancient prophet once said that his message was, “a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”
“People lose their way when they lose their why.”
To find your C.A.L.L. you must first find that message of fire shut up in your bones.
A – Attitude
The second part of your C.A.L.L. is your attitude.
Far too many of us derail here. We may know our why but we then allow our circumstances to dictate how we feel about it.
Our goal was to make a difference in three years but it’s taken five (or more).
We thought we would have experienced freedom or transformation long before this moment in our life.
You will never get where you want to go if you always allow outside circumstances to dictate internal characteristics.
When your attitude is fixed on your destination, not on the circumstance, you’ll transform your life and increase your sphere of influence.
Instead of success, you’ll end up like the negative farmer. When it rains, the negative farmer complains that too much rain will wash away the soil and deplete the crops of necessary nutrients. When it stops raining, the negative farmer complains that too much sun will dry out the crop and kill off the harvest.
Don’t look at what is going wrong, but find ways to look at what is going right and create momentum in that direction.
When your attitude is fixed on your destination, not on the circumstance, you’ll transform your life and increase your sphere of influence.
L- Location
The third part of your C.A.L.L. is about a location. It is always at a particular time and place, for particular people.
Think the “longitude and latitude” metric. For Moses, it was Egypt. For Mandela, South Africa.
What is it for you?
Once you know the cause and have committed your attitude, identify the place where your message will reside.
For the homeless in your city?
Abandoned orphans from a country you visited on vacation?
Neglected retirees who have been forgotten by their family?
Whatever it is, the more specific you can be, the more action you can take.
Get clear on your cause.
Fix your attitude.
Reside in a location.
L – Legacy
Ultimately, a life well-lived and a call fully embraced outlives the person.
There’s a reason we resonate with the aforementioned heroes. We are inspired not only by their commitment to change the world, but their belief that we could do it too. Martin Luther King once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” His firm conviction was that each of us has a part to play in bettering the world.
He’s right.
Throughout history, men and women have listened to that voice inside of them urging them to be and do more for humanity.
Welcome to Episode 1 of the LeaderQuest Podcast. For a full recording, please visit the #NextSteps Coaching page on Youtube. This contains the full recording, plus video. Each channel gets different content and in the full content, Justin and his family try some exciting new foods!
In this episode, Justin gives an overview of his call story to help you understand him better and find your own.
I had gone into college thinking I was going to be a science major. However, I remember one night staring into the microscope around 2 am trying to determine leaf structure, that I realized I didn’t want to do it anymore.
For someone already struggling with their place in the world, this was the last straw. I remember sinking into a deep depression. I felt like my whole world had been taken away.
A new city with no friends.
A lifeless major.
No sports to ground my days as they did in high school.
Lost.
Alone.
Discover Your Call
Defeated.
Gambling with God
During this time, I began a deep dive into my place into the world. I started to study the Bible and see if it had something for me.
I head this small voice telling me to think about a career in ministry.
I had tons of excuses about why that was a terrible idea.
I can’t speak in public.
I’m afraid of crowds.
I’m shy
I don’t want to.
Yet in my desire to find my place, I kept reading. I kept studying. And I kept hearing that voice. Finally, I had had enough. In a fit of rage and the cockiness of a 19-year-old know-it-all, I threw my Bible against the wall, promising to read whatever passage it fell open to.
If you can convince me to go into ministry through this, I’ll do it.
I was willing to gamble with God.
I picked up my Bible where it lay, plopped down on my bed, and read. My Bible (*coincidentially?*) had fallen open to Exodus chapter four.
In this story, a man named Moses is being called by God to free the Israelites from slavery at the hand of the Egyptians. Moses didn’t want to. He fought God’s call. He questioned God’s sanity.
Moses said:
I can’t speak in public.
I’m afraid of crowds.
I’m shy
I don’t want to.
Moses expressed everything to God that I had.
That small voice returned and said, “If I can do something with him, surely I can do something with you.”
Discovering Your Call
Now, I’m not saying I’m the next Moses. I’m far from it.
I’m also not saying that your call has to be as dramatic or painful as mine. I sure hope it’s not.
But here is what I have learned in the almost fifteen years since that day: Everyone has a call.
Your unique experiences, gifts, passions, interests, skills, and background have made you truly unique in this world. There is no one like you and you are like no one else. The world needs you. It needs your voice. Your perspective. Your championing of issues close to your heart. The world needs you, in all of your glory, to embrace who God has made you be at your core and live fully alive.
Without you, this world is incomplete.
Discovering your call is about finding whatever it is that makes you come alive. It is about blending your God-given potential with your world-changing desire.
So listen to that voice. Pursue it. Be open to it. As crazy as your world-changing idea may sound, it echoes in your soul for a reason.
It’s time to answer your call.
We are in a series on calling here on the blog. If you have a story idea, question or topic you want to be covered, or if you’re ready to work with Justin please fill out the contact form below.
In April of 2009, I became a father for the first time.
My wife, more than a week past her expected due date, was ready to burst. We tried everything that was supposed to help induce labor: drank strange teas, ate spicy foods, gobbled down pineapple, applied special lotions. You name it, we had tried it.
In intense pain and ready to not be pregnant in the warm California spring, we started walking.
We walked.
And walked.
And walked.
Late at night, on the campus of my master’s program, we created a half mile loop from our tiny apartment to the fountain at the center of campus. Over three miles into we finally collapsed into bed. The night was warm. The air was muggy, and after a full day of school and labor-inducing hacks, we were tired.
We got ready for bed, drank some water and tried to lay down. Roughly thirty seconds after I fell asleep she woke me: “It’s time!”
We hurried to the hospital, got admitted, and eight hours later had the joy of seeing my daughter born into this world.
First-time fatherhood is scary.
After the doctors were done running all of their tests, one of the nurses turned to me and asked, “Do you want to hold her?”
Call it naivete but that thought had never actually crossed my mind.
I stared at the nurse with a panicked expression on my face and said something along the lines of, “Uhhh….But she’s so little, what if I break her?”
Leadership’s “Secret Sauce”
As a first time father, I was overwhelmed at all of the things I was “supposed to know.” I’ll be honest: I didn’t know any of them.
I felt overwhelmed, under-prepared, emotionally fragile, and unsure of myself.
Thankfully, a decade and three additional kids later…..I’m still all those things (but with many more chances to doubt myself and screw it up).
Leadership, as it turns out, is often the same.
We have these grandiose ideas about our favorite leaders and how they make it look “easy.” The truth is that they have had to learn about leadership under pressure.
Great leadership happens, not because people are innately born with super-human capacity but because they committed themselves to show up, admit their inexperience, learn, try, fail, and try again.
Leadership’s Secret Sauce
Growing as a leader has a fairly simple (not easy) formula:
Show up.
Commit to learning.
Progressively challenge yourself.
Fail.
Try again.
That is the secret sauce to leadership. It is about showing up, every day, in all situations, with our full selves, to be fully present in service to others.
What are you committed to learning as a leader? Chime in below!
