Calling, Career, & Contentment

After sacrifice, saving, and the pursuit of significance, we’re left with a deeper question: why? Why do we give up what we love for something greater? Why do we steward carefully what’s been entrusted to us? Christmas reminds us that these questions aren’t new. They echo in the story of Christ’s coming; purpose lived out in humility, calling expressed through obedience. And they surface again in our own lives when we ask how calling and career fit together, and how their alignment produces contentment.

There’s a quiet tension between calling and career. Calling is what you were made to do. Career is the platform you’re doing it from. Sometimes they line up beautifully. Other times, they wrestle.

In my consulting conversations, I’ve seen that tension often. A PGA Member may feel called to teach, but their career has shifted toward administration. Another may feel called to mentor, but the weight of operations leaves little time. The result is frustration and restlessness. But here’s the encouragement: calling doesn’t disappear when career drifts. It waits to be expressed. And when the two find alignment, the result is peace, not complacency, but contentment.

The Apostle Paul wrote about this in Philippians 4:11–13: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation… I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” His words remind us that contentment doesn’t depend on circumstances, but on a deeper alignment with calling.

Even the Grinch stumbled into this lesson. At first, his focus was inward—on his own bitterness, his frustration with the Whos, and his disdain for Christmas. But when he saw the Whos still gathered, still singing in peace and joy even after he “stole Christmas,” something shifted. His heart grew when he realized that true contentment doesn’t come from hoarding or taking, but from living outward toward others, in relationship and community.

At home, I’ve learned this through my wife. She has a gift for discernment and creativity, seeing clearly what others overlook. More than once, she’s nudged me toward my true calling when I was tempted to settle for the easier career path. Her wisdom grounds me, reminding me that contentment isn’t about success by the world’s standards but about living faithfully into what I was made to do.

Here’s what I’ve learned: careers may shift, calling may stretch, but contentment grows when the two are reframed as partners instead of rivals.

1. Work: Write down three tasks you do each week. Label them as “calling,” “career,” or “both.” Ask how you might shift more of your energy toward “both.”

2. Home: Share with your friends or family how you see your work connecting to your calling. Then ask them where they see your gifts most clearly. You may be surprised by their answers.

3. Mentorship: Help a peer name one part of their calling they’ve been neglecting. Brainstorm together how to bring it back to life in their current career.

4. Leadership: Identify one task you can delegate or streamline so you can spend more energy where calling and career overlap.

5. Personal audit: Ask yourself: “Am I pursuing contentment, or am I chasing comparison?” Be honest about which one is driving you.

My Commitment

My calling is to encourage and equip people. My career is serving as a Career Consultant. My contentment grows when I remember the two align. Over the coming days, I’m choosing to frame every consult not as a meeting on the calendar, but as an expression of calling.

This Christmas, may you find peace not in escaping your career, but in reframing it as part of your calling. And may that alignment give you the kind of contentment that lasts beyond the season.

Next time, we’ll explore how balance, boundaries, and being sustain us when the pace of life quickens.