10 Ways to Determine God's Calling in Your Life

By John Piper

God's calling to missions is not authoritative the way the Scriptures are. Your calling is never beyond question. You can't claim it to others the way you quote Scripture to them.

Nevertheless our calling can be profoundly and durably sure in our own heart. It is the work of God to bring our heart to a point of conviction that, all things considered-including Scripture-this path is the path of obedience. The conviction is not infallible. But when it is of God, it brings peace.

How does God waken such a calling? I will suggest ten means that he uses. Only one of these is infallible-the Bible. All the others are relative. They are not absolutely decisive in your leading. They are important. But any of them can be overridden by the others. Various combinations of these are the fuel God uses to drive the engine of his calling in your life.

1. Above all, know your Bible and saturate your mind with it.

The Bible shapes our minds for mission durability (Psalm 1:1-3), and makes us burn for Christ (Luke 24:32).

2. Know your gifts and know yourself.

Every Christian has gifts (1 Peter 4:10-11). Knowing them shapes your convictions about your calling. And knowing yourself (as Paul exemplifies in Romans 7:15-24) deepens your sense of fitness for various ministries. (Keep in mind that this can be overridden by other facts!)

3. Ponder the need of the world.

The Christian heart of love is drawn by perceived needs, whether near or far. Therefore God uses what we know to awaken the measure of our desire that pushes us over the edge of commitment (Matthew 9:36-38).

4. Read missionary biography and missionary frontline stories.

Clearly the Bible treats heroes of the faith as divinely appointed inspirations for the awakening of vision and ministry (Hebrews 13:7). "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1).

5. Inquire of your soul, "Where are you burdened for others?"

God sends and seeks the burden for lost people. Jesus carried such a burden: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! . . . How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings" (Luke 13:33-34). This burden was essential to his calling. What is your burden?

6. Know your circumstances.

Parents, health, houses, lands, children, age, etc. All of them matter in our calling, but none of them is decisive. They can all be overridden. "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30).

7. Pray for God to throw you where you can be best used for his glory.

I say "throw" because in Matthew 9:38 that is the literal meaning: "Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to throw out laborers into his harvest." The point is pray! Ask God to use you to the fullest for his glory. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him" (James 1:5).

8. Do not neglect passionate, Christ-exalting, corporate worship.

The most important missionary calling that ever happened took place in corporate worship: "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them'" (Acts 13:2).

9. Listen humbly to the spiritual people in your life.

They not only confirm your gifts. They are the instruments of God to awaken in you possibilities and joys of missionary service that you never dreamed (2 Timothy 1:5-7).

10. Cultivate absolute surrender of all you are and have to Christ.

This is the person that God leads to the greatest fruitfulness of life. Woe to the person who tries to be a half-Christian and never says from the heart: "I renounce everything for you, Lord Jesus. I am willing to go anywhere and do anything at any cost, if you will go with me be my everlasting joy."

This is why Jesus said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. . . . Therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26-27, 33).

John Piper has been the Pastor for Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, since 1980. He has authored numerous best-selling books, including The Passion of Jesus Christ, Don't Waste Your Life and Desiring God. You will find 25 years of online sermons, articles, and other God-centered resources from the ministry of John Piper at www.desiringGod.org. He also has a daily radio program, called "Desiring God," which can be accessed online at www.desiringGod.org/radio.

The Cambridge Seven

The Cambridge Seven
C.T. Studd, M. Beauchamp, S.P. Smith,
A.T. Polhill-Turner, D.E. Hoste, C.H. Polhill-Turner, W.W. Cassels

I have been preaching a sermon that uses the Cambridge Seven as models of faith. These men had served their generation and now it is our turn to serve ours. The bible is clear that God watches over lives that serve their generations. King David is a very good example:

For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. (Acts 13:36)

David served his generation and he was known as a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). In the same verse, the bible says that 'he will do everything I want him to do'. Even David made a lot of mistakes, he was still an obedient servant of God.

Looking at the 1800s, little known stories of heroes of faith were being created by committed servants of God. In 1881, Harold Schofield who was a young missionary doctor, serving in the northern province of Shansi, China, was suffering from typhus. He was bed-ridden but that did not stop him from praying. He asked God for a replacement, knowing full well that he may not recover. He prayed that God will send graduates from England's top colleges to evangelize China. On August 1, 1883, Harold Schofield went home to be with the Lord. This dear brother was only 31 years old.

Did God answer his prayer? Yes, In February, 1885, Schofield's prayer was answered as seven Cambridge students volunteered to leave behind cosy lives of wealth and privilege to serve God in whatever way they were led. These men became known as THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN. They were namely:

1. Charles Thomas Studd
2. Montagu Harry Proctor Beauchamp
3. Stanley P. Smith
4. Arthur T. Polhill-Turner
5. Dixon Edward Hoste
6. Cecil H. Polhill-Turner
7. William Wharton Cassels

At the commissioning service of the Cambridge Seven, they said, "Pray that God may keep us faithful".

These seven inspired thousands of others to think seriously of missionary service. Included among the Cambridge Seven was C.T. Studd, captain of England and the finest cricketer of his day - if he could give all that up, then so could anyone! Many were inspired to serve God. In 1885, there were only 163 missionaries serving in China Inland Mission. By 1890, that number had doubled and by 1900, there were 800 active missionaries serving God in China through China Inland Mission. That represented one-third of the entire Protestant missionary force of those days.

Here are some details of what happened to the Cambridge Seven:


William Wharton Cassels (1858 - 1925)
William worked in China for 10 years and then returned to England in 1895 where he was consecrated as the new Bishop of a new diocese in Western China. He then returned to Western China — he ministered here until his death in 1925.

Stanley Peregrine Smith (1861 - 1931)
Stanley was sent to North China. Here he learned the Chinese language and soon became as fluent a preacher in Chinese as he was in English. He died in China on January 31, 1931.

Charles Thomas Studd (1860 - 1931)
A famous England cricketer - he was sent home because of ill health in 1894. Later he worked in India and Africa and was the founder of WEC. He died in 1931in Ibambi, Belgian Congo.

C. T. Studd was the one who penned this famous quote: "Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell". When he was old, some of his critics asked him to go home and retire. Studd refused, He said, "God has called me to go, and I will go. I will blaze the trail though my grave may only become a stepping stone that younger men may follow".

Cecil Polhill-Turner (1860 - 1938)
Cecil served God in North West China and also Tibet. He and his wife were nearly killed in 1892 in a riot. In 1900, his health failed and was sent home to England. He made seven prolonged missionary visits. In 1908 in Sunderland he became the leader of the Pentecostal Missionary Union and was greatly used in the formation of the Pentecostal Movement in Britain.

Arthur Polhill-Turner (1862 - 1935)
Arthur was ordained as a minister in 1888. He moved to the densely populated areas to reach as many people as he could. He remained in China throughout the uprisings against foreigners and did not leave there until 1928, when he retired and returned to England. He died in 1935.

Sir Montagu Harry Proctor Beauchamp (1860 - 1939)
In 1900 Montagu was evacuated from China because of the uprisings but returned again to China in 1902. He then returned again to England in 1911 and served as a chaplain with the British Army. His son became a second-generation missionary in China and in 1935 he went back to China; he died at his son's mission station in 1939

Dixon Hoste (1861 - 1946)
Dixon succeeded Hudson Taylor as the Director of the China Inland Mission and for thirty years, he led the Mission. He retired in 1935 but remained in China until 1945, when he was interned by the Japanese. He died in London, in May 1946 and was the last remaining member of the "The Cambridge Seven" to die.

Dixon said, "The man who does not learn to wait upon the Lord and have his thoughts molded by Him will never possess that steady purpose and calm trust, which is essential to the exercise of wise influence upon others, in times of crisis and difficulty."

These faithful men had served God for their generation. Their testimonies proved that when lives are fully committed to the Lord, they will create great impact upon their generation for the kingdom of God. May God raise up more faithful men and women to serve our generation.

For further reading, please check out these publications: The Cambridge Seven by J.C. Pollock; A Cambridge Movement by J.C. Pollock; C.T. Studd: Cricketer and Pioneer by Norman Grubb; Student Volunteer Movement (notes) by Charles Mott.