But you, Lord , are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord , and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. (Psalm 3:3-5 NIV)

It was just over a year ago, that I felt called by God to plant a church one day.

Being called by God to do something, whether that is planting a church, or starting a company, or donating a lot of money, or simply to get your butt out of bed and go to church on Sunday, is pretty heavy stuff, no doubt.

It’s heavy because, being called by God doesn’t mean your life gets easier.

I look at David in the Bible, after he was called and anointed by God to be king over Israel. His tenure gets off to a pretty bumpy start. He is caught sleeping with another man’s wife and as a result, it is prophesied over him that “the sword will not depart from his house.” This happy little prediction comes true in David’s life as he goes on to see much violence and struggle amongst and with his children.

His own son Amnon, ends up raping his half-sister Tamar. David’s third oldest son Absalom and Tamar’s brother hears about this and he is furious. He knows David isn’t going to do anything about it – David at this point has become a very passive father.

Perhaps being a king was more important than being a dad to him.

So Absalom, seeing his dad’s unwillingness to take action decides he is going to do something about it himself. He kills Amnon, and he declares to all of Israel that he clearly could do the job of being king better than his dad could. Absalom, then forces David out of his throne and David is on the run from the armies of his own son.

Whew. Pretty heavy stuff.

And it was at this point that David penned those verses from Psalms 3.

How can someone in such a dire situation still find it in him to trust the Lord? He should have been at the end of his rope, cursing God, not praising him. Right?

No, I think what David must have learned through this whole experience is his calling was not about him. It was about God.

I think David had allowed his calling and “doing something for God” become what defined him and this blinded him to what was most important. And it is here in Psalms 3 that he is resetting his focus.

See, I think David’s calling was not about even being a king.

Being called by God sometimes leads us to be consumed by the title, or the things we think we have to do to fulfill that calling. Even if you don’t call it a “calling” – is there something you do that you have allowed to define you?

Sure we can feel our calling from God is to plant a church or be a boss or be a mom; in David’s case, be a king. These things are overt and very visible, and necessary.

But being called by God, it seems, is about doing small things, small things no one else really sees.

When we choose to follow God, we cannot let the following him get in the way. The things that we think we have to do or get done that bring us the praise of men will not bring us God’s favor. He doesn’t care how much money we have, how witty we are or how much praise people are willing to give us for what we do in the name of our calling. I think he cares more about the position of our heart. I think he cares more about how many people we love along the way.

David missed that. What if David stopped for a minute and took Amnon to lunch one day and just asked him how he was doing?

So instead of staying late at work today, hurry home to your wife. Instead of sending one more email, spend 3 more minutes with your kids. Call your mom. Look up from your phone and get the door for someone. Buy someones lunch behind you in the drive thru. Call your friend you have not called in a while and ask them how they are doing. Stop and love people.

It is when each of us wake up in the morning and love other people more than we love what we do that we will finally step into our calling.
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