One of my former students recently asked the following question: “Around what age range would you consider ‘walking in your calling’?”
That’s a great question. I’ve found that most of the people who ask me that question tend to be in their mid-20s to early 30s, although there have been a few in their 40s and 50s. There’s an anxiousness within them to be in their “sweet spot,” the place where God wants them to be, doing what God wants them to do.
Let me make a few observations. First, there’s no age range when you should be walking in your calling. There are some Christian leaders who find their sweet spot at an early age such as Samuel Logan Brengle, a commissioner with the Salvation Army in the early 20th century, who, at 37 years old, had a role specifically designed for him which allowed him to hold holiness and evangelistic meetings nationwide. He continued in his sweet spot until his 70s.
Then there is Robert Jaffray, a missionary to Asia in the mid-20th century, who, at 55 years old, when most missionaries were thinking about the years until retirement, pioneered a new mission field in Indonesia, and would die a prisoner of war at 68. Therefore, there’s no specific age range when you should be walking in your calling; it could happen early, it could happen late.
Second, there are many factors to get to your sweet spot: experiences that God wants you to walk through; people God wants you to meet; spiritual gifts, natural abilities, and acquired skills God wants you to develop; opportunities God wants you to steward; and tests of integrity God wants you to pass. But nothing is more important than your intimacy with God. Young leaders make the mistake of doing a lot for God while forsaking their relationship with God. But at some point, they will come to the conclusion that it is one’s relationship with God that fuels their ministry. I like to put it this way: you must go deeper with God before you go farther for God.
Third, for most people, finding your sweet spot will be progressive. In other words, you won’t nececessarily find your sweet spot and stay there. It’s been my experience that God will allow you to be in a place where you are thriving, and you may think you could stay in that place and do what you do forever. But a few years down the line, things aren’t as challenging and you wonder if you could do what you are doing for the rest of your life. What God tends to do is take all those experiences, contacts, and skills and repurpose them for a different sweet spot. Thus, the sweet spot tends to be progressive.
This is what happened with Paul the apostle. When he first encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, he understands that he is to be a minister for the Lord to the Gentiles, Jewish people, and kings. As he grows in his relationship with God and ministry experiences, God expands his life purpose from Jerusalem to Antioch to Asia Minor to Rome, from ministering alone to ministering within a team, from ministering within existing churches to pioneering new congregations, and from speaking to Jewish people to speaking to Roman leaders. But here’s the key: no matter what circumstance Paul was in, he stewarded the opportunity. Here’s a downloadable chart that shows Paul’s unfolding sweet spot. And as Paul was faithful in one area, God opened up new areas, and thus, Paul progressed in his sweet spot. In other words, when God sees that you can be faithful with a little, He knows you can be faithful with a lot (Luke 16:10) and expands your influence and ministry.