Have you ever had a calling from God?

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My neighbour is an accountant. He is 33, married to a lovely woman and has no children. They are both very Christian and regularly talk about God in everyday conversation ie. when they got married they could feel God’s presence etc.

He has recently had a calling from God to try a long held dream to become a singer. He says he has felt God leading him down this path and can no longer refuse him.

This is all great but what does a calling from God actually involve? What’s the difference between that and just deciding you fancy a career change? As a non Christian this is not something I have ever experienced but interested to find out.

No atheists in foxholes. An absolute vehement atheist asked me to pray with him when he found out his mother was ill.

I think some people have been taught a very rigid idea of God and it is that which they are rejecting.

No atheists in foxholes
My grandfather's (in army) response to this was that it was probably true but that you didn't have any absolute believers either. In the face of a possible imminent death, I think that pretty much everyone would have a "What if...?" Moment.

@Virgin

Yes, I agree. You’ll take anything under extreme circumstances.

No atheists in foxholes

This is so dismissive of atheists and their beliefs.

I've nearly died in an accident that's been life changing for me. It's left me with epilepsy and much of me built of metal.

I didn't ask god for help, because I don't believe in him. I thought about how much I loved my family and how much I hoped they would be ok.

No atheists in foxholes

How supremely arrogant

Oh and don’t worry, I know that’s not your quote. The use thereof is immensely crass wouldn’t you say?

Give over @Mary - you know that’s not the case.

you know that’s not the case

Not at all. As a PP said immensely dismissive.

You can construe it that way if you want but it is particularly petty to do so, in my mind. It's an expression and in the context it has been used here is just meant to show that under desperate circumstances, like war, even atheists are allowed to waiver in their beliefs and call on God. The circumstances are so extreme it is not fair to judge them against what they would normally believe in and doesn't make them weak or 'less so' for having a wobble.

But you didn't think I would believe that, I guess. You are looking for something that doesn't exist with me and whatever it is I suspect it is the real cause of your antagonism towards faith.

It's an expression and in the context it has been used here is just meant to show that under desperate circumstances, like war, even atheists are allowed to waiver in their beliefs and call on God. The circumstances are so extreme it is not fair to judge them against what they would normally believe in and doesn't make them weak or 'less so' for having a wobble

Im sure you would agree the opposite. In moments of extreme stress a Christian can waiver in their beliefs.

But you didn't think I would believe that, I guess. You are looking for something that doesn't exist with me and whatever it is I suspect it is the real cause of your antagonism towards faith

I have no antagonism towards faith. I’ve already dealt with that.

I do dislike the overwhelmingly patronising notion that atheists are misguided and will see the light. It’s a completely reductive view.

I don't think I was petty, I explained through a personal and painful experience why I feel that the foxhole quote is dismissive of atheists.

I don't think I was rude in my post but I think you ignored it and were defensive with another poster making the same point as me instead.

I've not had a calling from God, no, and nor has anyone else, imo of course.

I used to follow a blogger with about five kids whose husband had a supposed calling from God to give up his job and move the family to a remote setting with no income. They did this. After a couple of weeks alarmed family members and friends readers donated money for them. They took it and said they had known God would provide.

To be clear that last post was in response to @Girlinterruption2020

I would describe myself as a Christian (RC raised, now a sporadic c of e attender).

I felt I was getting messages from God via TV etc in my worst depressive episode. I would say I may have been on the verge of psychosis. It was very scary and distressing time rather than a comforting enlightenment.

So a conundrum as I am not anti religion or someone who would say it is all in your imagination to feel presence of God, but when I was my lowest in mental in health terms that is just what happened to me.

Yes, I agree there is definitely some mental illness in there with some situations.

@BackseatCookers

Yes, I could see that but I think @mary quoted you and was being antagonistic.

Your situation was undoutably very difficult and for some people they would have needed God or a faith in something bigger than them to get them through - that's my point.

Yes, I could see that but I think @mary quoted you and was being antagonistic

It was my opinion. I think it’s an incredibly crass quote.

I wasn’t being antagonistic. I wonder whether you think atheism is “anti-religion” when in fact it isn’t.

I don't think I could keep a straight face. Honestly think there's a fine line between religion and mental illness.

No, unfortunately God doesn't exist. I wish he did as life would be so much easier if you didn't have to take responsibility for your decisions because God told you to do it. But it's just us and whatever justifications we need to follow our dreams. I hope he's successful.

No, I don't @Mary but I do think atheists can be anti religious people.

And I am no supporter of many interpretations of religion btw. I can only understand parts in context to my own faith and experience. I know I have needed it at times, that's all. Perhaps if I had more infrastructure in my life, less demand, I wouldn't have needed it. And I definitely believe that some Churches create their own needs in order to fulfil them - like a self perpetuating cycle that once you step out of, you can see the madness of. I certainly believe that welfare, eductaion and access to medicine replace much of the old religious needs - poor health can lead to mental health, etc.

I just fear that without liberal faiths in the world we will cut ourselves off entirely to the needs of those less fortunate - that we will see only what is possible rather than what should be and work towards that - no matter how impossible it may seem.

Never had one personally because God doesn't exist but when I did go to church it was evident that those who did were often called to very pleasant parts of the world (Bahamas? Oh, lord. Anything for you) and subbed by a grateful congregation. Calls also often happened for those on gap years. Cue various fund raising efforts despite the cost very often being spare change for the parents.

Those spaces then can get filled by more fundamental religions as they answer peoples basic needs. Or at least appear to acknowledge them.

There are still fairly damaging practices going on in the world (FGM, for example) that are done under the guise of 'faith'. Surely by having legitimate organisations in place that respond to people in that context is a good thing? They then focus on the positive aspects of the culture whilst removing the damaging ones.

There used to be a belief in Hinduism that the wife of a deceased should also follow him and die on the funeral pyre. What did that serve? It was the Anglican Church that managed to alter that (if I remember correctly). Only another institution of faith can fight for that territory as it acknowledges the framework and relativeness of that world. By having established faiths that work in communion with modern medicine, education, social norms we can protect the most vulnerable from the harshest actions of their own culture.

I am a Christian and I have had a call to God. For me, it has to be more than having a deep desire for something ( although sometimes that deep desire can be God given).
I think God called me to become a private tutor. It happened via strange series of events and I ended up taking on some tutoring on a temporary basis. Then I realised I loved it and wanted to do more. But I see God's hand in it as I don't think I would have believed I could live happily on such a low income and with the uncertainty of being self-employed.

' If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him' is an often quoted saying and when it was first written by Voltaire the vast majority of people did believe in God.

I don't believe in the existence of a God and I don't need to invent a God for myself.

But for very many people there does exist, the need to believe in some sort of God figure, just something that can give their lives meaning. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it brings them comfort and helps them get through life.

For the majority of people in this country it's the God of the Christians because, historically, this is a Christian country in which the Church and State are united.

It's the same with believing in an afterlife. For many people the thought that there is nothing once we die is too awful to contemplate so they comfort themselves with the belief that when they die, some sort of God will be waiting for them and they will meet up with their dead loved ones again.

Going back to the original question:

I have felt God calling me to do many things; some that may appear big and worthy but some are small and private. They are always for the benefit of others and not myself. Sometimes they come at a financial cost but I always trust that God will provide - and never has that been through asking other people to foot the bill. It's usually just things all falling into place at exactly the right time.

The things I "know" to be callings (rather than "I fancy a career change) are not the deep desires or passions (though I believe they can be God-given passions) but rather the things I would not ordinarily have imagined myself doing.
(And actually, yes. This has involved feeling called to support my partner when he left his job with no-where to go because he felt called to pursue a different career. We may be tight on money during a global pandemic now but I honestly believe the overall situation is doing us good)

I pray about them a lot. I ask God to intervene if I'm heading in a direction He doesn't want me to go in. I hold off on acting on it straight away and ask for "signs" from Him.

Of course, you can dismiss all of this as coincidence or confirmation-bias or whatever but I believe in my God and that He speaks to me.

As for the particular man in the OP, I cannot say whether his actions are influenced by God but I would support him if he had talent, and his motivation was to build up others and not just himself.

It's impossible to describe what hearing a calling is like, mostly because it is different for each individual, but just as you recognise the voices of those you're familiar with over the and from a distance, so you learn to recognise God's voice when you listen to it often enough!