God’s calling is holy. Whether it’s a call to your home, local church work, the marketplace, or an influential channel of culture, God’s call is holy — not because of what it’s to, but because of who it’s from. However, before you can wisely steward a call, you need to discover it. That’s where most people get stuck. They wait for a visible sign from heaven to reveal God’s divine calling, and if they don’t see it, they don’t pursue it.

A closer look at Scripture helps us see calling through a broader lens. There are at least three ways God reveals His call to people, and understanding these dimensions of calling will not only help us say “Yes” to God’s call on our lives, but will help us guide others to answer His call, too.

God Reveals His Calling Through Defining Moments
Some people receive God’s call during a defining, often life-altering, moment. The apostle Paul’s “Damascus Road” encounter with Jesus (Acts 9:3-6) is one such defining moment. It transformed Paul's life and permanently altered the direction of his future.

Defining moments might be an event, experience, divine encounter, or even a deeply meaningful conversation with a mentor. These defining moments are significant to the person who encounters them, regardless of their significance to others.

God Reveals His Calling Through Pressing Needs
For some people, calling happens when God uses a pressing need to get their attention. In the Old Testament, a man named Nehemiah received a visit from his brother Hanani. When he arrived, Nehemiah asked Hanani how the Jews were doing who had returned from captivity, as well as the condition of the city of Jerusalem.

Hanani described the situation as desperate and disgraceful. The wall and gates of Jerusalem had been destroyed. When Nehemiah heard the news, he wept, and for days he fasted and prayed (Nehemiah 1:3-4).

Because of the pressing need in Jerusalem, Nehemiah felt compelled by the Lord to do something about it. He eventually returned to Jerusalem to help the Jews and rebuilt the wall in only 52 days. Where did it all begin? When Nehemiah became aware of a pressing need.

Understanding these dimensions of calling will help us guide others to answer His call.

The same was true for Esther. Esther’s calling became painstakingly clear when her cousin Mordecai made her aware of Haman’s plot to annihilate the Jews. Esther could remain silent, or she could risk her position as queen (and her life) to save her people.

Mordecai’s words turned up the heat on Esther’s calling: “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14, NLT) Again, a pressing need grabbed Esther’s attention and God’s call came to light.

God Reveals His Calling as a Growing Awareness
Perhaps the most common way people are called by God is through a growing awareness of the call. This is a progressive process of becoming convinced that God has called you to a people, role, place, or task. When you look at Nehemiah’s call, it was the result of both a pressing need and a growing awareness.

Nehemiah 1:4 says, “When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.” Then, in verses 5-11, we read Nehemiah’s prayer. The final part of his prayer reads, “O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.” (Nehemiah 1:11).

In the very next passage (Nehemiah 2:1-10), Nehemiah meets with King Artaxerxes. At first glance, it would appear that Nehemiah prayed and then marched himself into Artaxerxes’ chambers to proclaim God’s call to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. Not true! The prayer we read in Nehemiah 1 is actually a summary of Nehemiah’s prayers over a four-month period of time.

During those four months, Nehemiah’s awareness of God’s call was solidified. The call grew stronger and stronger until Nehemiah couldn’t ignore it any longer. When the opportunity arose, he stood before the king and shared his vision for Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1-10).

Is God calling you to a specific people, role, place, or task using one of these three processes? Have you experienced a defining moment with God, a pressing need that you simply can’t shake, or a growing awareness of God’s call? At the end of the day, you have to determine what your answer will be to His call. Every “Yes” to God’s call takes courage, but it’s in the “Yes” that God meets us, provides for us, and leads us.

This article was adapted from Stephen Blandino’s book, Do Good Works: Am I Doing What I Was Made to Do? and has been used with permission.