Looking back at history, we can see amazing things God was doing that nobody recognized at the time. Learning this skill helps us see what God is doing in us today that other people, often friends and family, don’t recognize.

While Europe was in the chaos of the Dark Ages, God used Saint Patrick to preserve the Gospel by sending it off-coast, to the isle of Ireland. Europe’s subsequent focus on education during the Enlightenment was birthed from the Gospel in Ireland.

There’s a powerful movie documenting this, St. Patrick: The Irish Legend (not an affiliate link), starring Patrick Bergin (in the title role) and Malcolm McDowell. I highly recommend it. We watch it every year around St. Patrick’s Day.

The point for us is, God called Patrick to guard something he entrusted to him. In this case, it was something rather large – Christendom itself.

But your calling is no less significant. What calling has God entrusted to you?

Patrick’s calling was way bigger than he was. Had he known the scope of his calling at the beginning, he’d probably have never stepped into it from fear and overwhelm. These are the same things that keep us from stepping into our calling.

St. Patrick’s Solution to Fear and Overwhelm Works for Us

What worked for Patrick will work for us. He put on a “breastplate” each morning, a prayer called St Patrick’s Breastplate. Here’s the part I like the most. You may have heard it before.

Christ be with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ deep within me,
Christ below me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right hand, Christ at my left hand,
Christ as I lie down, Christ as I arise, Christ as I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

It’s not about chanting magic words. It’s about intentionally adopting the attitude reflected in those words.

Are we intentionally looking for Jesus everywhere around us? How would our day-to-day life change if we did? In difficult circumstances, one of the most effective prayers is, “Jesus, where are you in this?” Patrick was acknowledging, every morning, that in every situation he would face that day, God was in there somewhere. And Patrick stepped into the day intentionally looking for him.

This prayer also reflects a conscious realization of Jesus’ point in the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46): “Whatever you did (or didn’t do) to the least of these, you did (or didn’t do) to me.”

Patrick had an awareness that every eye that saw him and every ear that heard him was judging Jesus by what they saw and heard. He used that awareness to steward his actions and his words well. Would our actions and words change if we realized, in difficult circumstances, that people will judge Jesus by what we are about to do and say?

Back to the Fear and Overwhelm…

Patrick, one guy in a monk robe, had no power to preserve Christendom on a pagan island. God calls us to things bigger than us. Hence the natural fear and overwhelm we feel. It’s the enemy’s most common weapon to back us down from our calling.

But when Patrick came ashore answering God’s call on his life to Ireland, he claimed it. He boldly struck the beach with his staff and claimed the island for God. And every snake on the island slithered past him and his team into the sea, symbolic of God removing all demonic roadblocks and evil forces that would oppose him.

What ground are we claiming? What would it look like to take a step toward that passion in your heart you’re afraid to step into? Often our problem is not being unaware of our calling. It’s not boldly stepping up on the beach and claiming that ground as God’s calling on our life.

Your Turn

Does this resonate? What is your calling? What’s your first step (or next step) you’re taking to walk in it? Tell us your story in the comments. And please share this post if it will bless others.