Hi
@Samuel94,
You're asking great questions and I think every Christian has thought about this.
As time has passed and I've experienced more in life, I often wonder what we as Christians are expecting. I went through an unwanted divorce early in life and wondered if I would ever be able to get over what I saw as a near life-ending setback and go on to "what God called me to do."
I was attending a Pentecostal church that was big into personal prophecy, with people giving me "words of knowledge" such as, "It won't even be 2 years and you're going to get married again;" "God has a great calling on your life;" "God has someone waiting for you, but not here -- to where He's placed your heart" (but I had no idea where that was); and, "In order to raise someone up, God has to call them out of where they are."
Well guess what -- I DID wind up moving away from my home town and state, far, far away -- and as far as I could tell, none of those "words of knowledge" ever happened. Now sure, it could still be in the future. But literal decades have passed, and what I have learned is that I don't think God "calls" or "activates" most Christians the way we seem to think He will -- as if it's going to be someone discovers their "super powers" in a Marvel movie.
I think people are expecting some "Super Calling Moment!" like Moses parting the Red Sea, or David defeating Goliath, or maybe even helping to build an Ark that's going to save the remnant of believers from imminent destruction -- and there are surely still moments like that.
But what I've found for myself is that God "calls" and "activates" me in mundane, everyday ways -- maybe someone needs comforting, or a prayer, or, literally needs a toilet cleaned (this is a true story -- a proud employee felt he was too good for his turn to clean the public restrooms, and he didn't care that the next in line to do so was a pregnant young woman.) My immediate instinct was, "Not on my watch!" and so I just got to work doing so instead. Did I want to have to clean the men's and women's bathrooms? Heck no! But I knew that's what God was calling me to do that day.
I also went through about an 8-year span of writing to and visiting prison inmates -- which was scorned by many I knew -- but to me, it was one of the most valuable spiritual lessons of my life. It's one thing to talk to people who believe they are forgiven by God, it's another thing to talk to those who have committed literal murder and have gone through a much more rigorous process of believing in God's forgiveness than I have ever experienced myself. And one inmate told me it made all the difference that I was choosing to talk and listen on my own time rather than for a paycheck, I knew God had called me to those circumstances. I would still be doing such work if God had not told me to stop for my own safety.
So I might not be experiencing any big, dramatic, calling on a daily basis, but I know that for me, it's in the unexpected, and often most humbling moments of life in which God is "activating" me. I recently got some news no one wants to hear, but I know God is already formulating a plan, telling me, "THIS is what I want you to do -- I want you to clear your schedule and make time. I want you to call and write on a regular basis. I want you to visit when you can even though they are across the country. And, I want you to listen to everything they have to say."
Seeking out a job, spouse, and family could very well be the calling you are seeking. Your "calling" might be "activated" as you and your spouse are praying over the next round of bills for the house that seem to be ever-increasing, the nights you stay up comforting a sick child whose can't stop vomiting, the times when you prayerfully reassure your wife when she's worried about the latest parent-teacher meeting which brought heart-wrenching news.
I could be wrong, but I think one of the greatest things we can do as Christians is to do our best to live out the moments that come along everyday like it's "the big calling we're waiting for." Sure, we might have a "Parting the Red Sea" moment, but even those times don't last -- and if we live for those highs, we'll always just be left looking for "the next big thing" we're called to.
The Bible says that even when we give someone a cup of cold water, God takes it as if we are actually doing the same for Him. In other words, God's great work in us is carried out in the least likely of moments.
I think this is something most Christians are in danger of missing -- we look for the headline moments, thinking God's power must surely be most evident in situations that make the most noise.
But we forget about the God who also appears in a whisper.
And sometimes that gentle whisper is activating us just to simply serve those around us, helping to remind them, and us, that His presence and blessings are still with us, each and every day.
May God bless your heart to see the callings you are fulfilling right in the moment, and to prepare you for the even bigger ones He might have along the way.
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