Discerning When Your Time Is Up

In recent weeks at cell group, we’ve been looking at a series on The Daniel Dilemma by Chris Hodges on how to stand firm and love well in a culture of compromise.

The Daniel dilemma

During his time, Daniel understood his call was single: to make much of God in a society that stood against most of his core beliefs.

For his stand, he faced significant oppositions.

Today, we face our own unique challenges in a post-morden world that would have little or nothing to do with Christ, the hope of the world.

Yet we must find ways to share our faith boldly without alienating our audience. In the main, that’s often the challenge for us — finding the balance.

While praying for the 12, Jesus affirmed this truth in John 17:14-15. We are indigenous and yet pilgrims. So we have to contend with both realities in a way that ultimately magnifies the honour and worth of Christ.

When God might be saying ‘time up’

During our series discourse last week, the conversation shifted to understanding divine timing, submitting to God’s purpose and making the distinction between what we want and what God wants.

A question was posed to the group about how to spot God’s timing to navigate critical personal decisions — “How do you know when God is saying you’re done with an assignment and it’s time for a new challenge?”

Here’s what I said:

When you know deep inside that you have genuinely exhausted all grace to operate in that area or project, God may be saying it’s time to move to your next assignment. Pay attention to being in a sustained state of labouring in your own strength rather than God’s grace. Pay attention to that prolonged season of losing your passion, fire and hunger but you find yourself oscillating in shallow routines.

Operating outside of your purpose is like flogging a dead horse and expecting it to reach the finish line.

One of the fundamental indicators that you are in your calling is the inner, inexplicable joy you experience when doing what you are called to do, even if nobody notices, acknowledges or rewards your sacrifice.

If that passion and joy goes, you must prayerfully reassess your life.

Of course, there are seasons of discouragements. There will be times when ‘you just don’t feel like it’.

But those setbacks don’t last forever if you’re committed to your assignment in the moment. They are momentary, they only ‘come to pass’.

Unfortunately, some hide their struggles by ‘playing to the gallery’, keeping busy with routines, doing ‘God-stuff’ and church activities without actually pausing to take stock.

We take stock to ensure we remain aligned with God. We take stock so we can continue to lead and flourish well where we are planted.

But when your time is up, your time is up. Otherwise, you end up exerting graceless efforts with little or no eternal value-add.

In the end, you have to give account for YOUR purpose, assignment and calling before Christ, not another’s — 2 Timothy 4:7-8.

Purposeful with radical joy

Radical joy is joined in the hip with men and women who are clear about the vision of God for their lives.

Stop operating in joyless 'spiritual' activities that add no tangible value to your life and creates little or no impact on others simply because you need to tick a box or be affirmed by others // Discerning When Your Time Is Up Click To Tweet

If that’s you, you need to reassess your priorities.

Our primary focus is to know God as a matter of personal dealing and display His worth to others around us, in the hope they too may find personal embrace in the grace that saved us.

The command for radical joy is real. And unless we are truly satisfied in God Himself, we cannot fully and successfully operate in our calling to bring Him glory.

Spend time to prayerfully review the trajectory of your life. Re-examine God’s call on your life. Assess your commitment to your calling. Understand ‘the now’ and ‘next season’ of your call.

Are you still serving with radical joy? Is the passion, hunger and fire still growing? Or might God be saying “It’s time for a new assignment. Your time is done here.”

Photo by Jake Melara on Unsplash.