The Space Between Calling & Clarity
- pamedickers
- Jun 10
- 3 min read
Have you ever gone back and read through notes from a season of wrestling? Maybe they were journal entries, meeting notes, prayers scribbled in the margins of a notebook, or ideas captured during a long conversation. At the time, those notes represented uncertainty. They held questions that didn't yet have answers, possibilities that hadn't yet taken shape, and decisions that still felt unresolved.
Looking back now, however, you see them differently than you did then.
With the benefit of hindsight, you can trace the path that emerged. You notice the wisdom that quietly guided your next steps. You can identify opportunities that were worth pursuing and distractions that probably should have been avoided. What once felt confusing now reveals itself as part of a larger story that was unfolding. Leaders of all ages can point to seasons like this.
There are moments in life and ministry when clarity feels distant. We wrestle with questions about calling, leadership, vocation, and purpose. We spend time wondering whether we are moving in the right direction, whether our gifts are being used faithfully, and whether God is leading us toward something we cannot yet see. Yet it is often through these seasons of wrestling that true growth can take place.
It's the questions stretch us, because the uncertainty deepens our dependence on God. Going through this process refines our understanding of who we are and what we have been called to do. This isn't a season that we enjoy in the moment, but they often become the very experiences that equip us to make wiser and more impactful decisions in the future.
The Harbor was born out of a season like that.
Three years ago, we found ourselves asking what this ministry could become. Honestly, the questions seemed endless. We wrestled with vision, structure, purpose, and possibility. Looking back at those early notes today, we see thoughtful questions being asked and important wisdom being considered. We also see how much remained unknown.
Three years ago, The Harbor didn't even have a name. There were sketches, ideas, conversations, and hopeful mockups of what might someday exist. There was a conviction that young adults needed a place to wrestle with questions of calling and leadership, but many details had yet to be discovered. In many ways, we were asking the same questions our participants ask today.
How can we use our gifts and talents to serve God intentionally?
What does faithfulness look like in this season?
How do we discern where God is leading us next?
At The Harbor, we walk alongside young adults (17 to 28 years old) as they wrestle with these important questions. We create space for discernment, growth, trying it on, and formation. We provide resources, encouragement, mentorship, and opportunities to put leadership into practice. But perhaps the greatest gift is simply having a place where the wrestling is welcomed. Because calling is rarely discovered overnight.
Leadership is rarely formed through certainty alone.
Growth often happens in the tension between what we know today and what God is revealing for tomorrow. As we reflect on our own journey, we invite you to consider yours.
What questions are shaping your current season?
Where is God stretching your understanding of leadership, ministry, or vocation?
If you were to read through your notes three years from now, what story might they tell about the work God is doing in your life today? You may not be in a season that makes sense, where the answers feel incomplete. But some of the most significant growth happens when we remain faithful in the questions, trusting that God is at work even before the path becomes clear.
As you reflect on your own seasons of wrestling, consider how you might walk alongside a young adult in theirs.
Whether you're a leader within a church, Harbor alum, former Navigator, or supporter, there is a place for you in The Harbor Leadership Network. Together, we are investing in young adults who are asking important questions about calling, leadership, and vocation, to help them discover what it can look like to be in faithful service no matter the vocational calling.