9 Lessons Learned About Following Your Call

Here we sit 4 months into our time in Southeast Asia, it has been quite the journey to get to this point. The journey really started for us almost three years ago and has had many highlights as well as low times. However, as we have walked the path the Lord has set before us there are a few lessons we have learned. We strongly believe that these lessons not only apply to those in full-time ministry but also to those who are in marketplace ministry.

1. Following your call will not fix your issues. Whatever issues you have not dealt with, will follow you into your calling.
2. Following your call cannot replace God in your life. God is God, your call is your call. Do not get them mixed up.
3. Following your call is not the same as intimacy with God. Know God must hold the most prominent position in your life, and your call can not replace intimacy with Him.
4. Following your call only works if you walk open handed. You will not reach the full potential of your calling if you are not opened handed with EVERYTHING!
5. Following your call is as much about your growth as it is your call. Walking into your call requires growth that can sometimes be painful, but necessary, to mold you into the likeness of Christ.
6. Following your call requires you to be strong in the basics. Doing the basics of prayer and Bible study well, will make following the call easier.
7. Following your call requires you to know how to hear the voice of God. Hearing and knowing God’s voice will ward off confusion and frustration.
8. Following your call requires you to know who you are. Understanding the truth of who you are in Christ and how you have been created will help when the enemy attacks your identity.
9. Following your call requires perseverance. There will be bumps along the way, but will you choose to persevere? Choose to be a Land Rover and not a GEO Metro. Push through and do not allow yourself to get stuck on the bumps in the road.

We know that there will be many more lessons to come, but we are grateful for the ones the Lord has brought us through.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”  Hebrews 10:23

Brian and Becky Keene and their family are serving as missionaries in SE Asia.