God Calls You for Who You Are

Have you ever felt that you were called to a specific purpose? Are there times you struggle with where God is calling you? Well, I would imagine that the answer to both of these questions is yes, as it should be. For God calls all of us to a specific purpose and we certainly struggle with what that calling is throughout our lives. I know I personally struggled with my call into the ministry throughout my childhood and teenage/young adult years.

This topic of calling is the focus of Disney’s Moana, a 2016 animated movie about the daughter of a chief of a Hawaiian tribe. Moana is a special young woman who feels called by the ocean to go on a mission to set her people free from a darkness that has encompassed the waters for years and has now caused problems on her home island. And so, she sets out on an adventure – against the wishes of her father – into the wide-open ocean. Along the way she meets up with Maui – a demigod whose ego is as big as the ocean. Maui has stolen the heart of the goddess of the islands and that is what has caused this darkness curse. Thus, he needs to restore it for the waters to be free once again. However, his ego and his fear make him reluctant to help Moana. Eventually he does accompany Moana, but not without hesitation. And so, as these two set out on their journey, we follow two opposite character developments. Moana deals with the struggle of who she is called to be and discovers that she is far more special than she thought. Maui, meanwhile, is greatly humbled and begins to realize that he is not all that he thinks he is, but yet he still has a special calling.

As we finish our “At the Movies” series – where we discover our faith present on the red carpet – we discover that we are a lot like Moana and Maui. We too – from time to time – struggle with who we are meant to be. Many times, we feel that we are nothing special, and perhaps sometimes we think we are more than we are. But the truth is, God calls each of us for who we are. As we read in Psalm 139 and Jeremiah 1, God knew us before we were even born – knitting us together in our mother’s womb. Furthermore, we read in Isaiah 43 that God has called each of us by name. Every person is special and has been destined to great things in service for the Lord. We are all called to a purpose by God for who we are. So, may we embrace that calling and be who we are meant to be; for in so doing, we can contribute to the ministry of the Body of Christ.