Five Obstacles to Answering God’s Call And How to Overcome Them
Whether we are hearing the initial call to relationship with God or the secondary call to serve in His kingdom, there are obstacles that can sidetrack us from answering.
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The Obstacles
- Attitude: Our attitude can effect whether we even hear the call. If we are arrogant and not able to look honestly and humbly at ourselves, we may not clearly hear God calling to us. If we insist on being in control, we put a nearly sound-proof barrier up between us and God’s call.
- Self-Focus: When we direct our attention to our inability instead of God’s ability we can become paralyzed and not move forward in answering the call. Self-focus can also cause us to approach the call as if it is “all about us” rather than how it is relational and about serving God and others.
- Comfort Zone: God almost always calls us to take a leap of faith outside the realm of comfort. Generally, He calls us to do things that scare us. Which leads to…
- Fear: We may fear failing, looking the fool, for our safety, or any number of other things. Fear is a powerful obstacle.
- Resistance: Just because He called you doesn’t mean there won’t be challenges and difficulties. In fact, you can count on meeting with disapproval, ridicule, opposition and/or other challenges.
Overcoming the Obstacles
Don’t be discouraged by these obstacles. When God calls us, He also equips us with all we need for answering the call. Here are some ways to face the obstacles and answer the call in spite of them.
- Quit comparing yourself to others. When arrogance is our attitude we must compare ourselves to God. There is no room for arrogance when we come face to face with our holy God. Read the Scriptures and look specifically at God’s character. Humility is likely to result. (Isaiah 6: 1-7) and (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)
- When reading the Bible to learn of God’s character you will also see God’s power. And you’ll see how God equips the people He calls. Focus on His ability and get the focus off of your inability. That should also remedy any problems with an “all about me” focus, too. Because repeatedly in the Bible we see that God wants our focus on Him and serving others. (The examples of Moses in the book of Exodus and Gideon in the book of Judges, chapters 6-8 come to mind.)
- Recall the times in the past where He called you out of your comfort zone. Remember how he equipped you. Recognize how He strengthened areas of weakness and how you grew confident in areas where you had been uncertain and timid. Let those memories motivate you to take the leap of faith in the present.
- Face the fear and lean into God. Pray for God to give you the strength and courage to face down what scares you. Also, try talking to someone who can be more objective than you. That feedback may help you realize that a good deal of what you fear is only a skewed perception of the objective reality.
- When you meet with resistance, put your head down, pray and persevere. When you get knocked down, learn from it and push forward. Keep your eyes on God and your ears tuned to His voice. And press on! (Romans 5:1-5)
[reminder]What obstacles have you faced in answering God’s call? How did you overcome those obstacles? I’d love to hear your ideas.[/reminder]
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