I watched Moana today. This blog post will contain spoilers for that movie, in case you haven't seen it yet. So, if you don't want Moana spoilers, don't read this post.
After a disastrous encounter with the antagonist of the film, Moana decides that saving the world isn't for her. She tries to give "the Heart of Te Fiti," which symbolizes her world-saving task, back to the ocean, who gave it to her in the first place.
And the ocean took it back.
The ocean had given her the Heart and chosen her to be the one to return it to Te Fiti, but she tearfully asked the ocean to choose someone else, and the ocean listened.
I think God does, too.
God often gives us callings, and He has very good reasons for choosing us for those callings, but if we don't want to accept those callings, He won't make us. If we turn down those callings and ask God to choose someone else, He probably will.
I appreciate that God respects our agency on this matter, as on all others. His plan for us may be perfect, but we can still decide not to follow it. Our destiny isn't decided by God; we decide it ourselves. God gives us opportunities, but we always have the option of returning them.
Not that that's a good idea. Shortly after Moana returned the Heart of Te Fiti to the ocean, she changed her mind and retrieved it, intending to return the Heart to Te Fiti, as planned.
I recently rejected a calling, and I've felt slightly torn about it. I don't think anyone else has been offered that calling, though I may hear otherwise over the pulpit tomorrow. It may not be too late for me to change my mind and accept the calling, like Moana did. At this point, as far as I know, the choice really is up to me.
I'm not sure what I should do. Should I accept a calling I don't want, to serve in a position I don't want to be in, where I'll be stressed and bitter and miserable (mostly because I'm not great in high-stress environments), or should I deliberately reject this potentially-vital aspect of God's plan for me? Of course, I know what I should do. I just really don't want to do it. I've already given the Heart back to the ocean. The only question know is whether I'll muster up the courage to retrieve it while I still have the chance.
2 comments:
IF you choose to accept the call, you will likely encounter stress, but it is up to you whether you become bitter and miserable. That is not the you I know. You can choose to consider it an adventure and a character building experience. You can take it to the Lord in constant prayer and you can be totally honest with Him. I think most of us would do better in life - this and the next if we were more like Tevye. His continuous conversation with God did not ease his temporal problems but I think they gave him peace and strength as he dealt with them.
If you accept, do it after sincere prayer and then accept as whole-heartedly as possible. Pray to know what the Lord wants,, for strength to do it, and for peace.
We are encouraged to pray about accepting callings. I think we should accept them most of the time, but I think there are situations when we should say, "no". You should pray about it and do what feels right according to your prayer.
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