Don't Quit Your Calling

Earlier this week we wrote on how your joy will point you to your calling. I wanted to share with you how to follow that passion even when it's hard by telling you a surprising fact about an artist. In his 20’s, Pablo Picasso was extremely poor. He had little money for his basic necessities - food, water and paints.  Heating up his small room efficiently didn’t exactly make it into the budget.  So, to keep warm he burned his own paintings.

If you have any appreciation for art, the thought of Picasso’s beautiful creations going up in smoke makes you cringe.  Who would set fire to such wonderful talent for a few hours of comfort? Who could sacrifice the material that sustained their life-long dreams for temporary fulfillment?

You. And I.

We do this all of the time. We start painting out the things we love to do, are called to do, and as soon as it gets a little chilly we set them on fire.

We love to sing but we stopped because we were afraid no one would listen. We failed at those college classes so we’re hesitant to try again.  Our business plan was thrown into the trash the moment we lost our first client. Maybe we have a desire to do something but never tried because we bought into the lie that we’re worthless.  Anything we are passionate about that we compromised when it got hard for the sake of comfort.

You can imagine what happens when the fire dies down. It gets cold again.  We start wishing we had held on to what we had begun. That song, business, family, or experience could have been our masterpiece but we’ll never know.

So how do we fight the temptation to burn our work and quit our callings when we feel like giving up?

God given gifts were given to us intentionally and individually. Give them back to Him. Trust in Him to make them a reality.  We are very strong people. We can do really hard things.  But if God can create the universe out of nothing, imagine what he can do with the something He placed in your heart.