Do you ever wish you had a compass like Captain Jack Sparrow for your life? One that doesn't point to your desires but points in the direction of God's desires for your life? Sometimes we come to points in our life that we feel lost or we just don't know where God wants us to be.
Below is an acrostic(E.N.D.O.W.S.) that I made to be used like a compass to help you determine where God is calling you. You can use this not just for ministry but for all vocations.
Equipped: Are you equipped or being equipped or in a position to be equipped for the thing you think God is calling you to? For whatever it is you think God is calling you to, there has to be a bear minimum of being equipped. For example, if you think God is calling you to go over seas, do you have a passport? Because you cannot go over seas without one. If God is calling you to adopt you have to get a license/trained for it first. Even in the book of Acts the apostles were told they could not do anything until they were equipped with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1).
Need: Is there a need for what you think God is calling you to do in life? We must uphold the gospel and God's word about our preferences and priorities. Even when God calls a person to be a doctor, nurse, lawyer, teacher, or trash truck driver, He calls them because there is a need. "And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." (Luke 10:2)
Desire: Do you have a desire to do what you think God is calling you to do? Make sure you are not trying to do something or leave something because you have a lack of desire. Sometimes we are tempted to do something that we have no desire to do only to impress someone else. We are also tempted to leave a vocation because we lack a desire. We have to remember that our feelings and emotions change because they are weak and fickle. Where ever you are God has you there for a reason, even if He is calling you to leave, you are commanded to do all things unto Him and not man. So at least pray for the desire to finish that season of your life out correctly. God does give us a desire to do the things He wants us to do, so long as we are seeking His face in all things. I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”(Psalm 40:8) Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. (John 4:34)
Opportunity: Is there an opportunity to do what you think God is calling you to do? There might be a need, and you may have the desire and be equipped but God can still have the door closed. Look in Acts 16. Paul had a desire, he was equipped, and there was a need but the door was closed by God. And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. (Acts 16:6-7). If an opportunity is not open then do not try to force an opportunity. If you think that is where God is calling you then pray that He make it very clear and to open that door very wide.
Willingness: Are you willing to do what it takes to do what you think God is calling you to do? This may mean you have to lose friends, move away from friends, family, take a pay cut. This may mean you have to be removed from those who support you or uplift you. God may require that you go through heavy trials, tribulation, and rejections... are you willing to do that for this? But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24) Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. (1 Corinthians 7:17)
Scripture & Godly Counsel: Do you have spiritual leaders in the church that are mature in the faith that can affirm what you think God is calling you to do? Do you have close friends in the faith who are also mature that can affirm this calling? Advice and counsel from both of those groups should be sought earnestly and with extreme humility. Above all else do you have scripture from God's word that affirms what you think God is calling you to do? Search God's word with prayer, fasting, meditation and memorization. Seek God's face and His will with all humility not letting feelings, emotions, man's logic or philosophy get in the way. We must take what God says in His word as it is and seriously. Where there is no guidance, a people falls,but in an abundance of counselors there is safety. (Proverbs 11:14) Without counsel plans fail,but with many advisers they succeed.(Psalm 15:22) Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war. (Proverbs 20:18) I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11)
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