We get many calls during the course of a day.  Phone calls, e-mails, Facebook, tweets, and on it goes. Many things call for our attention.  Isn’t that really the essence of a call? That which consumes our focus and attention?

I believe there are different kind of calls: Lesser Calls and Greater Calls.

We each have a Greater Call on our lives.  You have a call that is uniquely yours to fulfill in this world.  It’s more interesting, purposeful and exciting than the lesser call that we tend to give our time and energy to.

And yet it’s possible to trade our Greater Call in for a Lesser Call.  We just never get to the Greater Call because our attention, energy, and focus is consumed by the demands of the Lesser Call.  Here is how I would define the difference between a Lesser Call and a Greater Call:

Lesser Calls

Demand little of us

Come at us from external voices that make demands on our time, energy and resources

Are easily ignored if we choose to

Are easy to follow

Don’t require a long-term commitment

Come with little meaningful payoff

Greater Calls

Demand much from us

Come to us from within, in the form of a still small voice nudging us in a direction, or a passion that doesn’t go away, or a sense in the back of your mind of something you would love to do or  to be about

Can’t be tuned out. We might try, but the voice won’t go away.  It will always be there, beckoning us, calling to us, asking for our attention

Take a lot of hard work, focus, and effort

Demand consistent effort and progress over a long period

The payoff is immeasurable and comes in the form of deep satisfaction, purpose, fulfillment, and joy.

[bctt tweet=”Fulfilling your Greater Call will mean letting go of the Lesser Call. ” username=”viaMarbleTracy”]

How Do I Recognize The Difference?

Let me give you an example.  I enjoy keeping our house up to date and fresh with the latest colors and designs.  The time spent watching HGTV for ideas and shopping for new accents or splashes of color absorbs time, resources and energy.  Even though bringing beauty, peace and comfort to our home is important, if that’s all I ever gave myself to I would be trading in my Greater Call for the lesser call.   It’s always easier in the immediate sense to go shopping for some new pillows than it is to put the effort into writing or preparing a talk.

Another example.  As a mom, it’s easy to fill my days with all of the kids’ activities.  Making sure they get where they need to go, have what they need, are getting their homework done, etc.  That is part of what I am called to for sure, but it’s not the whole entire thing.  Charles and I are intentional about sharing those responsibilities so that I can also pursue other things that are also on my heart to do and to be about.

You have a Greater Call to follow if you want to.   Maybe you are already pursuing it wholeheartedly and if so keep on keepin’ on!  Or maybe you feel that you’ve acquiesced the Greater Call for the Lesser Call because it seemed too difficult to follow the Greater Call.

It’s never too late to start, never too late to take a step in the direction of the Greater Call.  What you have inside of you matters.  You probably see something that if acted upon would make the world a better place.