Do you ever look at your life and wonder when the calling God has placed on your heart will ever come true? That calling you know God placed on your heart years ago, that just isn’t coming to fruition? I’ve had this thought many times over the years. God, if this is Your calling on my life, then why is it taking so long?

I am learning that each of our special callings from God don’t materialize magically overnight, or even over weeks, months, or a year. Our calling materializes, shapes, and reshapes as the years go by. As we grow in our relationship with God and each other. Each life experience, each difficult bridge crossed, each joyous occasion shared, each mundane task completed. It’s all a vital part of God preparing us as we journey to that calling. I’m finding more and more, that I will never arrive at the final destination of my calling…well, not until I breathe my last breath. Each season of life is a part of the unfolding of the calling God has on our lives. It all counts.
Some days we can’t see it but it’s all a part of the journey. All a part of the unfolding of how God is using us to help build His Kingdom.

When our 4 ½ year old Mikail passed away in his sleep unexpectedly, our world came to a sudden halt and we had a choice to make. Give up or hang on. We chose to hang on to the hope we knew was there for us because of our faith in God. No, this didn’t make any sense and it still doesn’t, but we held onto the knowledge that God is sovereign and this is not the end of our story. Yes, many days it felt like it would be a lot easier to give up, but this part of our journey is also a part of the great unfolding of God’s plan for our lives.

In the lyrics of Steven Curtis Chapman’s The Glorious Unfolding he says,

…this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and see and you will be amazed
You’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding.

Psalm 90:17 reminds us that God establishes the work of our hands:

May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
Psalm 90:17 NIV

Don’t give up. Hold onto hope. God hasn’t forgotten. He’s using each season of our lives as a part of the glorious unfolding of that calling He has placed on our hearts.

This personal reflection was shared by Iris Parr. Read more about her journey at irisparr.com