Don’t Miss the Calling: When God Interrupts Life to Reveal His Plan
- I realize that there are moments in life when everything slows down, not because we chose rest, but because God pressed pause.
a Normal Christian have come to realize that what began as a physical diagnosis quickly became a spiritual awakening. It didn’t just confront his mortality, it confronted his priorities, his pace, and his purpose. Cancer didn’t come from God, but God used it. It forced him to ask the question many of us avoid until life shakes us awake: Am I living God’s plan, or just living busy? Sometimes God allows life to interrupt us, not to destroy us, but to realign us.
When God Uses Crisis to Clarify Calling
Scripture reminds us that God is never improvising with our lives.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11
Yet many believers, like me may have miss God’s plan, not because it doesn’t exist, but because it gets crowded out by ambition, comfort, routine, or fear. However, cancer stripped away the illusion that I had unlimited time. Suddenly, what mattered most became crystal clear: Was I fully surrendered to what God called me to do or was I postponing obedience? This reminded of something I once heard that “The greatest tragedy is not unanswered prayers, but unanswered callings.”
You Can Be Saved and Still Sidestep Your Assignment
One of the most sobering realizations I had was this: You can love God, believe in Christ, and still drift from your divine assignment.
The Apostle Paul understood this tension well:
“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” ~ Philippians 3:12
Calling requires pursuit. It requires intention. It requires listening when God whispers, and obedience when He nudges. Cancer quieted the noise long enough for me to hear God clearly again. And that God’s calling doesn’t expire, but it can be delayed by distraction.
Redeemed Time, Renewed Purpose
One of the most powerful lessons God impressed on my heart during that season came from Paul’s words:
“Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” ~ Ephesians 5:15–16
I took this personally, and for me time suddenly became sacred. Every conversation mattered. Every prayer deepened. And every moment carried weight. I began to understand that God wasn’t asking me to do more, He was calling me to do what mattered most. And I’ve learned that when your life is interrupted, don’t rush to escape, ask God what He’s revealing.
Don’t Miss God’s Plan While Waiting for a Better Season
Many people assume they’ll step into God’s calling later:
- When things slow down
- When the kids are grown
- When retirement comes
- When the timing feels safer
But Scripture reminds us:
“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” ~ Hebrews 3:15
Cancer reminded me that later is not promised, but obedience is always available now. It stripped away the illusion that I had unlimited time and exposed how easily purpose can be postponed. It taught me that delayed obedience is not caution, it is cost. And it awakened in me a renewed urgency to live fully aligned with what God has called me to do today, not someday I see it this way that delayed obedience is often disguised as wisdom, but God calls it disobedience.
Your Testimony Is Part of Your Calling
He didn’t walk through cancer just to survive it. he walked through it to serve differently, lead more intentionally, and speak more boldly about God’s faithfulness. The Bible reads in Revelation 12:11 that “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” I’ve learned that:
Your pain is not wasted.
Your struggle is not random.
Your survival is not accidental.
God doesn’t just heal us, He positions us. He restores us so we can stand where we once could not and speak with authority we did not previously have. What the enemy meant to silence us, God redeems as a platform for testimony and impact. Our healing becomes a doorway through which others find hope, courage, and faith to believe again. My brother often tell me that good things fall apart, so better things can happen.
A Final Encouragement
If you are reading this and life has interrupted you, through illness, loss, disappointment, burnout, or an unexpected detour, pause before you rush forward. Not every interruption is an obstacle; some are invitations. God often speaks most clearly when the noise of life is quieted, and the illusion of control is stripped away.
Scripture reminds us that God is always near in these moments: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” ~Psalm 34:18 Before you ask God to remove the difficulty, ask Him what He is revealing through it. Pain has a way of surfacing truths we would otherwise ignore, about our priorities, our dependence, and our willingness to trust God fully. Seasons of shaking are not meant to destroy our faith, but to deepen it.
So, take inventory of your heart. Ask yourself where you have delayed obedience, where fear has muted your faith, or where comfort has replaced calling. Then respond, not with perfection, but with surrender. Because when God calls, He does not ask for perfection, He asks for availability. And availability, offered in faith, can transform a life, and through that life, countless others.
IRON BREW BONUS
Solomon, in the book of Proverbs, discusses the relationship of man’s planning and God’s directing work multiple times (Proverbs 16:1; 19:21; 20:24). One example of this is found in Proverbs 16:9: “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps” (NKJV). Humanity often plans and prepares for future events, but in each case God directs the outcome.
The book of Job provides a great example of this relationship between one’s plans and God’s directing ministry. God considered Job a righteous man (Job 1:1, 8). Undoubtedly, Job had plans for the future, including continued work in the fields (Job 1:14–15), making sacrifices for his children (Job 1:5), accepting good from the Lord (Job 2:10), etc. During a prosperous time of Job’s life (Job 1:1–3), Satan appeared before the Lord and was given permission to test Job’s fear of the Lord. Satan carried out this testing by taking things that belonged to Job such as his material possessions, family, and health, sure that Job would curse God because of his loss. God directed these events, utilizing Satan as a tool for testing Job (Job 1:12; 2:6). Job certainly did not plan on losing all his possessions (Job 1:13–17), his children dying in a natural disaster (Job 1:18–19), and having his wife tell him to curse God and die (Job 2:9), but God directed the outcomes.
The story of Job doesn’t end there, of course, but the contrast in Job’s plans and the steps that God directed Job to take shows the relationship between man’s future planning and God’s present directing work. Just as God directed the circumstances and events in the life of Job, God directs and determines our circumstances and events today. We can take comfort in knowing that the Almighty God is in control of outcomes.
Another example of the Lord directing the steps of humanity is seen in Psalm 37:20–26. David, the second king of Israel, wrote this psalm in the later years of his life (Psalm 37:25). Part of the psalm contrasts the actions taken by the Lord toward the wicked and the righteous. In verse 22 David discusses “those the Lord blesses” and “those He curses.” The blessed are the righteous under the Mosaic Law, while the cursed are the wicked (see Deuteronomy 27—28). The righteous man, who delights in the Lord, is promised “firm steps” (Psalm 37:23). He can move forward with confidence because, “though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand” (verse 24).
As a result of God’s directing work, David rejoices in the outcomes: “Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever” (Psalm 37:28b–29). God’s sovereignty should comfort the believer in Christ. God is in control. It is wise to plan for the future, but we should find comfort in that, ultimately, God directs our steps. His plan leads us in a good path—one we should all rejoice in.
Other Iron Brews Newsletter posted in the Past
