July 2, 2025 • 25 mins
Ever feel called to speak, teach, or lead—but wonder how to actually grow in it?
💬 Someone recently asked me a list of questions - one of them really stuck out to me so I devoted this episode soley to that question - "How do you know if this is your calling, or just something you are good at?"
🔥 In this conversation, I unpack the honest truths about preparation, confidence, humor, and the not-so-glamorous grind behind public speaking and ministry communication. Whether you're leading in a pulpit, a classroom, or a boardroom—this one's for you.
🎧 Listen to the full episode now and take the next step in your growth as a communicator.
Thank you for taking the time to jump into Life, Hope, and Leadership with me. I hope you are encouraged today by our time together. Grab something to take notes with, and know I am praying for you and cheering you on in your walk with God. If you have questions about Jesus and Christianity, please take a moment to check out the following links: www.ghow.net/saved or www.pastornick.net.
Show your support or Jump into the conversations here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nick-chybrzynski Leave a comment and let us all know where you are watching from.
#PublicSpeakingTips #CommunicationMatters #LeadershipDevelopment #PreachingLife #SpeakWithPurpose #YoungLeaders #MinistryTraining #GrowthMindset #PodcastForLeaders #ChangeYourWorld #ChristianLeadership #LifeHopeLeadership #SpeakerLife
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
You are listening to the Life, Hope and Leadership Podcast with
Nick Shabrinsky. A transparent, honest and
encouraging podcast to equip youthrough real life experiences.
(00:23):
Hey, thank you guys for jumping in on these Life, Hope and
Leadership podcast with me. Nick Shabrinsky.
I hope that you are enjoying thecontent that is coming out of
each and every episode. If you are, it means the world
to me if you just take a second to hit that, like subscribe or
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do me a favor, send it to a few people you think would benefit
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(00:46):
jump into the dialogue of each episode on the Spotify app by
leaving comments about how you liked or disliked or whatever
your takeaways were from each episode.
So once again, thank you for being a part of the Life Hope
and Leadership podcast communitywith me and all of those who are
listening. So let's jump in to the next
episode of Life, Hope and Leadership. yo-yo, yo-yo, what
(01:08):
up guys? It's me, Nick Shabrinsky.
So glad you are a part of these podcasts.
If you're vibing with them, if you enjoy them, if they are
pushing you, challenging you, equipping you, please share them
with someone you love, someone you want to push, someone you're
discipling, mentoring, coaching,and and it helps get the word
out and I just appreciate it. So if you're supporting the
(01:31):
podcast through the Spotify linkin the description, thank you
very much for that. You guys are the real ones.
And it has been awesome to see how many people are listening
from across all the platforms. You can go into the Spotify link
and actually let me know where you're listening from.
Takeaways kind of join in on theconversation and this will
(01:52):
continue to grow. I do not want to put advertising
in my podcasts. I see that a lot and I just get
irritated when I'm like vibing with the podcast.
Next thing I know it's trying tosell me like a cell phone or
something. So I don't want to do that.
But I do appreciate each and everyone of y'all and your
support. So that being said, I wanted to
jump into Part 2 of last week, continuing from last week's
(02:15):
podcast. And last week I was saying that
I had a friend and a husband in the church and a brother in the
faith give me a list of questions.
And I just asked like, what was going on?
He said, I mean, I want to grow in my communication skills and I
wanted to know a little bit moreabout about you and what you do
and how you got there. So I was really humbled by that
(02:37):
and flattered that somebody would would come with a specific
list of questions. And I thought it would be
phenomenal to not just answer one person, but to answer
anybody who's looking into thesetypes of things.
So last week's episode was called Before You Grab the Mic.
This will be Part 2 and there's a few questions.
So the first question that was in this they're kind of rapid
(03:00):
fire, but this one was not because there this was a very
deep and kind of philosophical, definitely theological,
doctrinal and also like life skill kind of things that
happen. And then the next questions are
are a lot easier. So I spent some time on this one
thinking about it. The question was, how do you
(03:20):
know that this and this they're referring to I, I would assume
is me being a senior pastor and a church planter.
They, they, they are sitting under my teaching every week as
a pastor, sitting in our church,serving in our church.
But, but also, you know, I do podcasts and I write books and I
(03:40):
mentor and I do my best just to squeeze.
I always say I want to squeeze the orange.
If my life is an orange, I want to squeeze it so that it's bone
dry by the time I die. I want to give everything I have
and I want to make it something that's attainable, tangible to
others so that when I leave, nothing's left in me, but it is
all given out to this world. But that being said, in a
general term, how did you know you were this is something
(04:02):
you're called to? Now the rest of the question is
really the trigger. How do you know this is
something you're called to besides being just something
you're good at? And man, I thought that was a
fantastic question because if you're taking notes, it's easy
for your talents and your skill sets to be confused with your
(04:23):
calling and purpose. There's a saying, an old adage
that that was out there, and we still say it often, at least I
do, that people are a Jack of all trades and a master of none.
And so my intention in life, andI say this with a little bit of
grace to it, but I would say be a Jack of all trades and be a
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master of one or even better, bea master of some.
There's a saying that it's better to practice one move
10,000 times than to have 10,000moves.
I believe it was a martial arts quote.
And it's amazing because people when when people practice their
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one move 10,000 times, they're really good at it.
Look at Steph Curry with a threepointer.
So how do you know that, like what you're doing is what you're
called to do besides just being good at it in regards to the
calling of God and being a pastor and a communicator in the
regard that I am? Or maybe you play baseball and
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basketball and football and you're really good at all three.
Maybe you really enjoy science and biology and you're thinking
about being a doctor, but you love gardening or farming, or
maybe you love helping people. Maybe you love children and
working in a daycare, but you also aspire to be a doctor or
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nurse or a lawyer. It can be very confusing to
separate the things which you'recalled to and the things you're
good at everyone. So here's a a quote.
This was a lot of thought into kind of how I was going to say
this. Everyone is called by God to do
something. I know that because the Bible
says many are called, but few actually answer their calling.
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There's a lot of people who feelthe pressure to become
something, so they start doing something that they were
actually never meant to do. And the reality is, and I hope
you'll write this down and thinkabout it, just 'cause you can do
it doesn't mean you're meant to be the one who does.
Just 'cause you can do it doesn't mean you're meant to be
the one who does. Everyone's called by God to do
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something, but not everything you are good at is your calling.
You can be gifted in a skill that can serve you or you can
serve it for a season. But calling write this down.
Calling produces fruit that remains.
Your calling will produce fruit that remains As a business
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owner, you might be working at like I had a friend.
I have a friend who who he worked at past tense.
He worked at present tense. He's a friend for a business and
his skill sets are so diverse, but he started doing some of the
programming for the back end of the business because of how they
were communicating as an organization.
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And in doing so, he ended up getting a promotion into into
that business outside of his education or credentialed set
back or background. And and so they were like, man,
you're so good at this. We had to kind of bring you up
into this. And then he got bored with that
and quit. And it, it's cracks me up
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because that's kind of how he isbecause he's good at so many
things. It can be very confusing.
But God calls you to create things that last.
And so a true calling transformslives.
Talent may touch lives, but calling transforms them.
Talent might bring glory to God,but calling aligns to God's word
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over your life. Calling draws people closer to
the Lord. You're like, well, what if I'm a
business owner dude, if you're now you might be a secularist.
The truth does remain God put calling on you, whether you're
using it for his glory or not. That's that's on you on what you
do with it. There are you musicians out
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there that God created them. Part of their calling is to make
worship and music for the Lord and to let people hear the
goodness of God through their gifts and talents.
But they use it for the world and they make money and they get
their glory. They get their fame.
The Bible says you will get yourglory in this world, but it you
will have no glory or credit in the next.
But when we do it for Him, we will receive reward here and in
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eternity. Calling makes you stay when it
gets hard. Talent gets you through a door.
Calling keeps you in the room. Character keeps you in the room.
Calling is, isn't, is a different word.
And, and now there's a word called charisma.
It's where we get the word it's called charis.
(09:09):
That's where we get the word charisma, charismatic and it and
it means a grace on your life. So you may be good at something
that you're not called to do, and you may not be good at
something that you've been called to do, and you need to
work on that. So here's some thoughts about
that question. How do you know that this is
what you're called to, not just something you're good at
calling? The difference between like I
(09:30):
love serving tables, serve tables for over a decade, always
been a background opportunity. Quick, quick, quick money.
That's what my wife and I did when we planted our church here
in Pittsburgh. We got hired at Outback.
We had a wonderful manager. She was a tough woman.
She's a strong woman, but she was gracious, gave us a job,
gave us the same shift, same hours, same days, because when
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we had one car and it was 30 minutes away.
So grateful her to, for her fromher for I'm so grateful for her
to this day. She owns Mission Barbecue in
Monroeville. She's running that.
So if you want some good BBQ, pop in there and tell her to
thank you for supporting Pastor Nick Shabrinsky and his wife.
But I love serving tables. I do photography.
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Love, love, love taking and and supporting people through
photography. I have a massage therapy
diploma, I love doing massage therapy, I love helping people
get healthy, I do videography, Ilike making videos, I love
capturing moments, I love to decorate rooms and help people
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dream. I love division cast.
And that stuff's great, but it'sjust a sign or points to the
calling. And that's what you'll realize.
There's a lot of talents in you,but what makes your heartbeat?
Also, remember, just because youlove something because it's
refreshing, doesn't mean it might be the thing you want to
do every day of your life. And so that's important.
Some people are like, oh, I really love farming and then or
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I love, I love gardening and I want to do that for the rest of
my life. And they're like, Oh my God,
it's no longer fun. Be careful that you don't take
all the stuff that gives you a sense of satisfaction and rest
and always think that that's going to be your job, your
calling. But one thing you can say about
calling is calling creates a burden in you that you cannot
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shake. Write that down.
A calling will put a burden in you that you can't shake.
So some people are like, man, I really just believe children
need good teachers And, and I just really wish that that they
could have a good teacher. And I really it burdens me that
kids, they need more good teachers.
And I've always thought about being a teacher, but I just
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don't know if there's enough money in there, but I can't
shake it. Every day I wake up, every job I
work at, every place I go, I just want to teach babies.
I want to teach children. I want to teach teenagers.
I want to teach college agent. Probably looking at your
calling, you might be in the wrong field.
A calling isn't just a skill, it's a burden.
I love the church. I love Christians knowing the
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word of God, knowing how to hearGod's voice, knowing how to walk
with God. I love helping people who don't
know Jesus see him for who he really is and not just what
they've heard. I love helping people learn to
know and walk with God. A calling is not just a skill,
it's a burden. And it's there's, there's
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something about it that that cankeep you up at night.
If you ignore it. It's something that that aches
your soul. Jeremiah verse 20, chapter 20,
verse 9. Jeremiah said if I say I will
not talk about him, if I say I will not preach his word, I
can't do it, man. His word is like a fire shut up
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in my bones. It burns me out from trying to
hold it in, so therefore I cannot.
Jeremiah was a prophet. He could go do other things.
He could have other jobs. There's nothing wrong with that,
but you're not going to shut himup.
I remember there was a season inmy life where I ran from God in
ministry. I went to Bible college.
Pastor's mom called me out in the middle of class in front of
1000 students, told me I was full of the devil because of a
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tattoo, told me I didn't deserveto be in that church and in that
school and blah, blah, blah, blah.
And I was so broken over it thatI was like, God, I don't ever
want any. I don't want people to be
judged. I don't want to see people
judged over things that have nothing to do with righteousness
sake. And I got so just broken over a
ton of other things that I beganto see happening in the
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ministry. And so I ran away from God and I
started drinking and sinning anddoing everything I could do to
get God to take his calling off of my life.
And every time I would go get drunk and do something wrong, I
would start preaching the gospel.
Drunk is a skunk. Preaching the gospel in bars and
in bathrooms and at parties. And people would be like, Oh my
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gosh dude, you are hammered. Why are you preaching to me?
I would tell them I know, but what I'm doing is wrong and what
you're doing is wrong. And we need to give our hearts
to Jesus and realize how much God loves us.
He doesn't want us to be out here acting like fools and
living in this world that's killing us for for nothing.
But he gave his life for everything and we and it was my
burden. The other thing about your
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calling is it will typically be affirmed by other people in the
body of Christ, other believers in your life, mentors, parents
and and be careful because when there will be people going, he
can make money doing this. It's like, OK, well we're not
calling is write this down. Calling isn't about money.
Calling is not about money. We don't do anything for the
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guarantee of money. The more that you live a life
pleasing to the Lord, you won't have to worry about provisions
because God's provision will always follow his plan.
Will there be hard times? Yes.
Well, why? Because you, you and I, we must
pursue the calling even in toughtimes.
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And I believe that if you're only going to pursue the the
calling for the good times, you're not going to be prepared
to operate in the calling when it does get tough.
But there will be affirmation from the body of Christ.
The Bible actually says let things be confirmed among two or
three witnesses. Callings are typically confirmed
in community. So like pastors, leaders,
mentors, those around you, they'll see it, they'll pull it
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out. There's people I've seen preach
that were like, I'll never do that.
And I'm like, no, it's in you. I, I know people, including my
wife, who I'm like, I know there's a gift of worship,
singing, music, art, photography, skills, different
things. And I don't see it.
I don't see it. Well, you don't have to see it
because when other people see it, they help pull it out of
you. I love it.
The the Bible tells us in secondTimothy 16, Paul reminds Timothy
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of the gift stirred. He's a man stir up the gift of
God inside of you and lay hands on others and speak these things
into life. So it'll typically be something
that's affirmed. So yeah, you might be good at
it, but you'll identify is this something a skill or is this a
calling? So another thing about the
calling over skill sets is skillsets are definitely within your
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ability, but calling is often going to take you outside of
your ability where you begin to operate in the anointing.
And the the anointing is where the supernatural hits your
natural. The anointing is where where the
Holy Spirit's power to, you know, operates over your
strength. And the Bible says not by your
might, not by your power, but bythe Spirit of the Lord.
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So talent may be impressive, butanointing, when the anointing
comes in, people go, they just begin to transform and change.
So there is there's a divine favor that that just it's like,
like people don't realize. For instance, I get overwhelmed
in crowds, But when I know it's time for me to teach crowds, I
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step into my calling in my anointing and all the sudden the
crowds no longer overwhelm me. But when I'm done doing what I
and called to do in that moment,I have to step out of the
calling part and then I just walk down.
OK, I'm, I'm Nick now and I'm just not pastor now.
I'm Nick right now and I'm walking around and I'm and I
have to navigate and deal with me outside of my calling.
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Yes, I'm always a pastor. That's always my calling.
But before I'm ever a pastor, I'm Nick.
I'm God's son. I'm just Nick.
I'm I'm flawed, I'm imperfect. But when I step in my anointing,
people see people who are walking in their anointing.
You see them like superheroes, Christian or non Christian,
secular faith-based, whatever. You watch people operating and
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performing 30,000 people watching someone sing on a stage
and they just see them like a hero.
I remember my wife and I went toa Steelers football game one day
and we were on the second or third row with my brother.
He had he had got us really great tickets.
We were sitting with with him asa guest and it was insane
because you realized how big these football players all were
in My wife was like, wow, they all look like superheroes
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because they're operating in their calling.
But man, those guys have to go home and, you know, take a
shower and they sit on their couch and veg out eating
whatever they eat. And they get in fights with
their kids and their families and have to deal with financial
strains and frustrations and medical issues.
They have to deal with insuranceand taxes.
And just like all the stuff thatyou and I have to do, though,
that's life. But you get to see them in their
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gifts and in their callings. And the anointing will always
transcend the abilities when youbegan to operate in the
anointing and in your callings. The other thing about callings,
this is really important. And this kind of goes back to
the whole money thing. Your calling will be something
that drives inside of you focus for obedience over opportunity.
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You don't chase it, you surrender to it.
So you know, it's like, I remember I was a youth pastor
and the church, one of the churches I was working at, they
were going through a little bit of a more of a financial hit.
And they're like, hey man, we'regoing to have to, to bring your,
your payback a little bit because of the finances right
now. And so I took a $5200 a year pay
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cut. At that point, I was only making
a, basically, I think I, I endedup making like $400.00 a week
full time. And I loved it.
By the grace of God, I was like,whatever God will provide.
So they had mentioned, well, youknow, you might, maybe you'll
need to get a, a second job. And I was like, why?
I can't do that 'cause I can't give my best to my calling.
I'll just believe God, my wife had a job and and you know, we
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just decided to have less so we could give more because it
wasn't about an opportunity. I was surrendered to the
calling. I'm not going to go back into by
vocational when I when I'm operating already in this for my
life. Now, sometimes you will like I
do a lot of side hustle. My wife and I, we do.
She takes photos. I do photos, I do graphic
design. I help businesses, I help
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marketing, I help churches, I help people set up things like
this, like podcasts and and media avenues and I write books.
But I don't do any of that for money.
I do it to make a difference. And by the grace of God, money
has followed. Now, am I hooked up?
No. Do I need?
Would it? Would it?
Would I be a lot better off if Imade some more money?
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Yeah. If you guys are bored, go buy
money. Buy my book and I hope it
blesses you and in the long run,you know, it does bless me back,
which is awesome. But I never wrote a book for
money. My my help, my with the help of
my wife, I wrote books to help people and so, but I surrendered
to that. You're not.
Be careful that you pursue your calling to build a brand.
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Be careful that you pursue your calling to build a platform.
Will it produce a platform? Yes.
Do you do it for a platform? No.
Could it produce a brand? 100% generations House of
worship and it's right is a local church.
It is a brand. Never did it for a brand.
But the brand identifies what you're doing.
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But what you're doing doesn't give you your identity.
It's coming out of your identitythat brands are formed and
platforms are built, but you cannot build those things to try
to find your worth and value. It's about being obedient to
what God has placed inside of you, even when it costs you.
And to be quite honest, I have still given more historically
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and presently and hopefully forever will than I've ever
received as far as compensationally.
Because the Kingdom of God, Jesus said if you're not willing
to give it all, you don't deserve it anyway.
That's paraphrased, but he said if you're not willing to hate
this and give up that and leave friends and family and money and
wealth to follow me, your heart's not in it, man.
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Don't be like that person who looks back.
And so how do you know this is something you're good at versus
something you're called to? Well, you're good at a lot of
things, but what's the one thingthat burdens you the most?
What's the one thing that if allthe other stuff had to go,
what's the one you wouldn't wantto let go of?
What's the one that you, no matter what you do, you just
kind of always catch yourself doing it again?
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I would rather do this for God and nobody see it than to be
seen by others. And God never asked me to do it.
That's your calling. What would you do if no one
applauded you? What would you do if nobody else
ever saw it? What's the thing that makes you
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feel more alive when you're doing it?
What's the thing that fills yourtank?
What's the thing that makes you go to bed at night and go I made
a difference today. And what's the thing that you
would be willing to do if it costed you?
Costed you if it costs you everything, if it cost your
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comfort, if it cost you your popularity, if it cost you the
control of your life, what is that thing that you would still
do? And that's more than likely
pointing you to your calling. Now, what would I do if I felt
called to something? I would serve in that area.
If my wife loves animals, I said, hey, go volunteer.
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Now we know she's not called to animals, but she loved that.
And she's like, if I didn't everbecame a pastor and a pastor's
wife, I probably would have donethis or that.
Well, go do those things. Enjoy them, have fun doing them
because you don't have to give them up just because you found
your calling. But you might have to give up
the amount of time that you do other things to pursue your
(23:31):
calling. So if you feel called to
medical, the medical field, see if there's any medical field
areas that you're interested in.You could volunteer in or intern
in or shadow or do a workshop. You're feeling called the
pastoring will serve. Get involved in ministerial
based platforms like at our church.
Lead a life group and talk to your life group leader or myself
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at like if you're at our church or if you're at another church.
Hey to your pastor. Hey, I feel like I really
something about preaching. Really.
I love to teach and preach. I think I really get burdened by
people. I think about people all the
time. I want to pray for them, want to
help them. That might be a calling of
ministry. Man, every time I see people
running their own business, I always think I'd like to do my
own business. Well, what business would you
like to do? Some people are called to be
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stay at home moms, stay at home dads.
It burns in their soul to be a stay at home.
And some people are. I mean, there's just a billion
things. But that being said, that's one
question. Got a few more but we are done
guys please share this like follow, leave a comment, let me
know what platform you're listening on share it on
(24:39):
Facebook, YouTube, send it to 20friends.
If you would do that it would mean the world to me.
I appreciate you click on the link in the Spotify link in the
video in the podcast description.
You can see how you can actuallysupport the podcast 10 bucks or
whatever a month I get I don't even know how that works.
I think it was set up before, but I shut it down because I
felt bad with people supporting it.
(24:59):
And then I realized as people talk to me that that was kind of
dumb and I think it's back. So let me know.
That being said, thanks so much for being a part of the Life
Hope Leadership Podcast. I hope you change your world
this week. You are listening to the Life,
Hope and Leadership Podcast withNick Shabrinsky.
A transparent, honest and encouraging podcast to equip you
(25:22):
through real life experiences.
You are listening to the Life, Hope and Leadership Podcast with
Nick Shabrinsky. A transparent, honest and
encouraging podcast to equip youthrough real life experiences.
(00:23):
Hey, thank you guys for jumping in on these Life, Hope and
Leadership podcast with me. Nick Shabrinsky.
I hope that you are enjoying thecontent that is coming out of
each and every episode. If you are, it means the world
to me if you just take a second to hit that, like subscribe or
follow button on whatever platform you're listening on and
do me a favor, send it to a few people you think would benefit
from the conversation. Also, don't forget that you can
(00:46):
jump into the dialogue of each episode on the Spotify app by
leaving comments about how you liked or disliked or whatever
your takeaways were from each episode.
So once again, thank you for being a part of the Life Hope
and Leadership podcast communitywith me and all of those who are
listening. So let's jump in to the next
episode of Life, Hope and Leadership. yo-yo, yo-yo, what
(01:08):
up guys? It's me, Nick Shabrinsky.
So glad you are a part of these podcasts.
If you're vibing with them, if you enjoy them, if they are
pushing you, challenging you, equipping you, please share them
with someone you love, someone you want to push, someone you're
discipling, mentoring, coaching,and and it helps get the word
out and I just appreciate it. So if you're supporting the
(01:31):
podcast through the Spotify linkin the description, thank you
very much for that. You guys are the real ones.
And it has been awesome to see how many people are listening
from across all the platforms. You can go into the Spotify link
and actually let me know where you're listening from.
Takeaways kind of join in on theconversation and this will
(01:52):
continue to grow. I do not want to put advertising
in my podcasts. I see that a lot and I just get
irritated when I'm like vibing with the podcast.
Next thing I know it's trying tosell me like a cell phone or
something. So I don't want to do that.
But I do appreciate each and everyone of y'all and your
support. So that being said, I wanted to
jump into Part 2 of last week, continuing from last week's
(02:15):
podcast. And last week I was saying that
I had a friend and a husband in the church and a brother in the
faith give me a list of questions.
And I just asked like, what was going on?
He said, I mean, I want to grow in my communication skills and I
wanted to know a little bit moreabout about you and what you do
and how you got there. So I was really humbled by that
(02:37):
and flattered that somebody would would come with a specific
list of questions. And I thought it would be
phenomenal to not just answer one person, but to answer
anybody who's looking into thesetypes of things.
So last week's episode was called Before You Grab the Mic.
This will be Part 2 and there's a few questions.
So the first question that was in this they're kind of rapid
(03:00):
fire, but this one was not because there this was a very
deep and kind of philosophical, definitely theological,
doctrinal and also like life skill kind of things that
happen. And then the next questions are
are a lot easier. So I spent some time on this one
thinking about it. The question was, how do you
(03:20):
know that this and this they're referring to I, I would assume
is me being a senior pastor and a church planter.
They, they, they are sitting under my teaching every week as
a pastor, sitting in our church,serving in our church.
But, but also, you know, I do podcasts and I write books and I
(03:40):
mentor and I do my best just to squeeze.
I always say I want to squeeze the orange.
If my life is an orange, I want to squeeze it so that it's bone
dry by the time I die. I want to give everything I have
and I want to make it something that's attainable, tangible to
others so that when I leave, nothing's left in me, but it is
all given out to this world. But that being said, in a
general term, how did you know you were this is something
(04:02):
you're called to? Now the rest of the question is
really the trigger. How do you know this is
something you're called to besides being just something
you're good at? And man, I thought that was a
fantastic question because if you're taking notes, it's easy
for your talents and your skill sets to be confused with your
(04:23):
calling and purpose. There's a saying, an old adage
that that was out there, and we still say it often, at least I
do, that people are a Jack of all trades and a master of none.
And so my intention in life, andI say this with a little bit of
grace to it, but I would say be a Jack of all trades and be a
(04:46):
master of one or even better, bea master of some.
There's a saying that it's better to practice one move
10,000 times than to have 10,000moves.
I believe it was a martial arts quote.
And it's amazing because people when when people practice their
(05:07):
one move 10,000 times, they're really good at it.
Look at Steph Curry with a threepointer.
So how do you know that, like what you're doing is what you're
called to do besides just being good at it in regards to the
calling of God and being a pastor and a communicator in the
regard that I am? Or maybe you play baseball and
(05:30):
basketball and football and you're really good at all three.
Maybe you really enjoy science and biology and you're thinking
about being a doctor, but you love gardening or farming, or
maybe you love helping people. Maybe you love children and
working in a daycare, but you also aspire to be a doctor or
(05:51):
nurse or a lawyer. It can be very confusing to
separate the things which you'recalled to and the things you're
good at everyone. So here's a a quote.
This was a lot of thought into kind of how I was going to say
this. Everyone is called by God to do
something. I know that because the Bible
says many are called, but few actually answer their calling.
(06:13):
There's a lot of people who feelthe pressure to become
something, so they start doing something that they were
actually never meant to do. And the reality is, and I hope
you'll write this down and thinkabout it, just 'cause you can do
it doesn't mean you're meant to be the one who does.
Just 'cause you can do it doesn't mean you're meant to be
the one who does. Everyone's called by God to do
(06:35):
something, but not everything you are good at is your calling.
You can be gifted in a skill that can serve you or you can
serve it for a season. But calling write this down.
Calling produces fruit that remains.
Your calling will produce fruit that remains As a business
(06:58):
owner, you might be working at like I had a friend.
I have a friend who who he worked at past tense.
He worked at present tense. He's a friend for a business and
his skill sets are so diverse, but he started doing some of the
programming for the back end of the business because of how they
were communicating as an organization.
(07:19):
And in doing so, he ended up getting a promotion into into
that business outside of his education or credentialed set
back or background. And and so they were like, man,
you're so good at this. We had to kind of bring you up
into this. And then he got bored with that
and quit. And it, it's cracks me up
(07:40):
because that's kind of how he isbecause he's good at so many
things. It can be very confusing.
But God calls you to create things that last.
And so a true calling transformslives.
Talent may touch lives, but calling transforms them.
Talent might bring glory to God,but calling aligns to God's word
(08:04):
over your life. Calling draws people closer to
the Lord. You're like, well, what if I'm a
business owner dude, if you're now you might be a secularist.
The truth does remain God put calling on you, whether you're
using it for his glory or not. That's that's on you on what you
do with it. There are you musicians out
(08:26):
there that God created them. Part of their calling is to make
worship and music for the Lord and to let people hear the
goodness of God through their gifts and talents.
But they use it for the world and they make money and they get
their glory. They get their fame.
The Bible says you will get yourglory in this world, but it you
will have no glory or credit in the next.
But when we do it for Him, we will receive reward here and in
(08:48):
eternity. Calling makes you stay when it
gets hard. Talent gets you through a door.
Calling keeps you in the room. Character keeps you in the room.
Calling is, isn't, is a different word.
And, and now there's a word called charisma.
It's where we get the word it's called charis.
(09:09):
That's where we get the word charisma, charismatic and it and
it means a grace on your life. So you may be good at something
that you're not called to do, and you may not be good at
something that you've been called to do, and you need to
work on that. So here's some thoughts about
that question. How do you know that this is
what you're called to, not just something you're good at
calling? The difference between like I
(09:30):
love serving tables, serve tables for over a decade, always
been a background opportunity. Quick, quick, quick money.
That's what my wife and I did when we planted our church here
in Pittsburgh. We got hired at Outback.
We had a wonderful manager. She was a tough woman.
She's a strong woman, but she was gracious, gave us a job,
gave us the same shift, same hours, same days, because when
(09:51):
we had one car and it was 30 minutes away.
So grateful her to, for her fromher for I'm so grateful for her
to this day. She owns Mission Barbecue in
Monroeville. She's running that.
So if you want some good BBQ, pop in there and tell her to
thank you for supporting Pastor Nick Shabrinsky and his wife.
But I love serving tables. I do photography.
(10:13):
Love, love, love taking and and supporting people through
photography. I have a massage therapy
diploma, I love doing massage therapy, I love helping people
get healthy, I do videography, Ilike making videos, I love
capturing moments, I love to decorate rooms and help people
(10:33):
dream. I love division cast.
And that stuff's great, but it'sjust a sign or points to the
calling. And that's what you'll realize.
There's a lot of talents in you,but what makes your heartbeat?
Also, remember, just because youlove something because it's
refreshing, doesn't mean it might be the thing you want to
do every day of your life. And so that's important.
Some people are like, oh, I really love farming and then or
(10:55):
I love, I love gardening and I want to do that for the rest of
my life. And they're like, Oh my God,
it's no longer fun. Be careful that you don't take
all the stuff that gives you a sense of satisfaction and rest
and always think that that's going to be your job, your
calling. But one thing you can say about
calling is calling creates a burden in you that you cannot
(11:15):
shake. Write that down.
A calling will put a burden in you that you can't shake.
So some people are like, man, I really just believe children
need good teachers And, and I just really wish that that they
could have a good teacher. And I really it burdens me that
kids, they need more good teachers.
And I've always thought about being a teacher, but I just
(11:36):
don't know if there's enough money in there, but I can't
shake it. Every day I wake up, every job I
work at, every place I go, I just want to teach babies.
I want to teach children. I want to teach teenagers.
I want to teach college agent. Probably looking at your
calling, you might be in the wrong field.
A calling isn't just a skill, it's a burden.
I love the church. I love Christians knowing the
(11:56):
word of God, knowing how to hearGod's voice, knowing how to walk
with God. I love helping people who don't
know Jesus see him for who he really is and not just what
they've heard. I love helping people learn to
know and walk with God. A calling is not just a skill,
it's a burden. And it's there's, there's
(12:17):
something about it that that cankeep you up at night.
If you ignore it. It's something that that aches
your soul. Jeremiah verse 20, chapter 20,
verse 9. Jeremiah said if I say I will
not talk about him, if I say I will not preach his word, I
can't do it, man. His word is like a fire shut up
(12:37):
in my bones. It burns me out from trying to
hold it in, so therefore I cannot.
Jeremiah was a prophet. He could go do other things.
He could have other jobs. There's nothing wrong with that,
but you're not going to shut himup.
I remember there was a season inmy life where I ran from God in
ministry. I went to Bible college.
Pastor's mom called me out in the middle of class in front of
1000 students, told me I was full of the devil because of a
(12:59):
tattoo, told me I didn't deserveto be in that church and in that
school and blah, blah, blah, blah.
And I was so broken over it thatI was like, God, I don't ever
want any. I don't want people to be
judged. I don't want to see people
judged over things that have nothing to do with righteousness
sake. And I got so just broken over a
ton of other things that I beganto see happening in the
(13:21):
ministry. And so I ran away from God and I
started drinking and sinning anddoing everything I could do to
get God to take his calling off of my life.
And every time I would go get drunk and do something wrong, I
would start preaching the gospel.
Drunk is a skunk. Preaching the gospel in bars and
in bathrooms and at parties. And people would be like, Oh my
(13:42):
gosh dude, you are hammered. Why are you preaching to me?
I would tell them I know, but what I'm doing is wrong and what
you're doing is wrong. And we need to give our hearts
to Jesus and realize how much God loves us.
He doesn't want us to be out here acting like fools and
living in this world that's killing us for for nothing.
But he gave his life for everything and we and it was my
burden. The other thing about your
(14:04):
calling is it will typically be affirmed by other people in the
body of Christ, other believers in your life, mentors, parents
and and be careful because when there will be people going, he
can make money doing this. It's like, OK, well we're not
calling is write this down. Calling isn't about money.
Calling is not about money. We don't do anything for the
(14:26):
guarantee of money. The more that you live a life
pleasing to the Lord, you won't have to worry about provisions
because God's provision will always follow his plan.
Will there be hard times? Yes.
Well, why? Because you, you and I, we must
pursue the calling even in toughtimes.
(14:50):
And I believe that if you're only going to pursue the the
calling for the good times, you're not going to be prepared
to operate in the calling when it does get tough.
But there will be affirmation from the body of Christ.
The Bible actually says let things be confirmed among two or
three witnesses. Callings are typically confirmed
in community. So like pastors, leaders,
mentors, those around you, they'll see it, they'll pull it
(15:11):
out. There's people I've seen preach
that were like, I'll never do that.
And I'm like, no, it's in you. I, I know people, including my
wife, who I'm like, I know there's a gift of worship,
singing, music, art, photography, skills, different
things. And I don't see it.
I don't see it. Well, you don't have to see it
because when other people see it, they help pull it out of
you. I love it.
The the Bible tells us in secondTimothy 16, Paul reminds Timothy
(15:35):
of the gift stirred. He's a man stir up the gift of
God inside of you and lay hands on others and speak these things
into life. So it'll typically be something
that's affirmed. So yeah, you might be good at
it, but you'll identify is this something a skill or is this a
calling? So another thing about the
calling over skill sets is skillsets are definitely within your
(15:57):
ability, but calling is often going to take you outside of
your ability where you begin to operate in the anointing.
And the the anointing is where the supernatural hits your
natural. The anointing is where where the
Holy Spirit's power to, you know, operates over your
strength. And the Bible says not by your
might, not by your power, but bythe Spirit of the Lord.
(16:21):
So talent may be impressive, butanointing, when the anointing
comes in, people go, they just begin to transform and change.
So there is there's a divine favor that that just it's like,
like people don't realize. For instance, I get overwhelmed
in crowds, But when I know it's time for me to teach crowds, I
(16:44):
step into my calling in my anointing and all the sudden the
crowds no longer overwhelm me. But when I'm done doing what I
and called to do in that moment,I have to step out of the
calling part and then I just walk down.
OK, I'm, I'm Nick now and I'm just not pastor now.
I'm Nick right now and I'm walking around and I'm and I
have to navigate and deal with me outside of my calling.
(17:08):
Yes, I'm always a pastor. That's always my calling.
But before I'm ever a pastor, I'm Nick.
I'm God's son. I'm just Nick.
I'm I'm flawed, I'm imperfect. But when I step in my anointing,
people see people who are walking in their anointing.
You see them like superheroes, Christian or non Christian,
secular faith-based, whatever. You watch people operating and
(17:28):
performing 30,000 people watching someone sing on a stage
and they just see them like a hero.
I remember my wife and I went toa Steelers football game one day
and we were on the second or third row with my brother.
He had he had got us really great tickets.
We were sitting with with him asa guest and it was insane
because you realized how big these football players all were
in My wife was like, wow, they all look like superheroes
(17:48):
because they're operating in their calling.
But man, those guys have to go home and, you know, take a
shower and they sit on their couch and veg out eating
whatever they eat. And they get in fights with
their kids and their families and have to deal with financial
strains and frustrations and medical issues.
They have to deal with insuranceand taxes.
And just like all the stuff thatyou and I have to do, though,
that's life. But you get to see them in their
(18:11):
gifts and in their callings. And the anointing will always
transcend the abilities when youbegan to operate in the
anointing and in your callings. The other thing about callings,
this is really important. And this kind of goes back to
the whole money thing. Your calling will be something
that drives inside of you focus for obedience over opportunity.
(18:36):
You don't chase it, you surrender to it.
So you know, it's like, I remember I was a youth pastor
and the church, one of the churches I was working at, they
were going through a little bit of a more of a financial hit.
And they're like, hey man, we'regoing to have to, to bring your,
your payback a little bit because of the finances right
now. And so I took a $5200 a year pay
(18:57):
cut. At that point, I was only making
a, basically, I think I, I endedup making like $400.00 a week
full time. And I loved it.
By the grace of God, I was like,whatever God will provide.
So they had mentioned, well, youknow, you might, maybe you'll
need to get a, a second job. And I was like, why?
I can't do that 'cause I can't give my best to my calling.
I'll just believe God, my wife had a job and and you know, we
(19:20):
just decided to have less so we could give more because it
wasn't about an opportunity. I was surrendered to the
calling. I'm not going to go back into by
vocational when I when I'm operating already in this for my
life. Now, sometimes you will like I
do a lot of side hustle. My wife and I, we do.
She takes photos. I do photos, I do graphic
design. I help businesses, I help
(19:42):
marketing, I help churches, I help people set up things like
this, like podcasts and and media avenues and I write books.
But I don't do any of that for money.
I do it to make a difference. And by the grace of God, money
has followed. Now, am I hooked up?
No. Do I need?
Would it? Would it?
Would I be a lot better off if Imade some more money?
(20:02):
Yeah. If you guys are bored, go buy
money. Buy my book and I hope it
blesses you and in the long run,you know, it does bless me back,
which is awesome. But I never wrote a book for
money. My my help, my with the help of
my wife, I wrote books to help people and so, but I surrendered
to that. You're not.
Be careful that you pursue your calling to build a brand.
(20:27):
Be careful that you pursue your calling to build a platform.
Will it produce a platform? Yes.
Do you do it for a platform? No.
Could it produce a brand? 100% generations House of
worship and it's right is a local church.
It is a brand. Never did it for a brand.
But the brand identifies what you're doing.
(20:49):
But what you're doing doesn't give you your identity.
It's coming out of your identitythat brands are formed and
platforms are built, but you cannot build those things to try
to find your worth and value. It's about being obedient to
what God has placed inside of you, even when it costs you.
And to be quite honest, I have still given more historically
(21:16):
and presently and hopefully forever will than I've ever
received as far as compensationally.
Because the Kingdom of God, Jesus said if you're not willing
to give it all, you don't deserve it anyway.
That's paraphrased, but he said if you're not willing to hate
this and give up that and leave friends and family and money and
wealth to follow me, your heart's not in it, man.
(21:37):
Don't be like that person who looks back.
And so how do you know this is something you're good at versus
something you're called to? Well, you're good at a lot of
things, but what's the one thingthat burdens you the most?
What's the one thing that if allthe other stuff had to go,
what's the one you wouldn't wantto let go of?
What's the one that you, no matter what you do, you just
kind of always catch yourself doing it again?
(22:01):
I would rather do this for God and nobody see it than to be
seen by others. And God never asked me to do it.
That's your calling. What would you do if no one
applauded you? What would you do if nobody else
ever saw it? What's the thing that makes you
(22:24):
feel more alive when you're doing it?
What's the thing that fills yourtank?
What's the thing that makes you go to bed at night and go I made
a difference today. And what's the thing that you
would be willing to do if it costed you?
Costed you if it costs you everything, if it cost your
(22:48):
comfort, if it cost you your popularity, if it cost you the
control of your life, what is that thing that you would still
do? And that's more than likely
pointing you to your calling. Now, what would I do if I felt
called to something? I would serve in that area.
If my wife loves animals, I said, hey, go volunteer.
(23:09):
Now we know she's not called to animals, but she loved that.
And she's like, if I didn't everbecame a pastor and a pastor's
wife, I probably would have donethis or that.
Well, go do those things. Enjoy them, have fun doing them
because you don't have to give them up just because you found
your calling. But you might have to give up
the amount of time that you do other things to pursue your
(23:31):
calling. So if you feel called to
medical, the medical field, see if there's any medical field
areas that you're interested in.You could volunteer in or intern
in or shadow or do a workshop. You're feeling called the
pastoring will serve. Get involved in ministerial
based platforms like at our church.
Lead a life group and talk to your life group leader or myself
(23:54):
at like if you're at our church or if you're at another church.
Hey to your pastor. Hey, I feel like I really
something about preaching. Really.
I love to teach and preach. I think I really get burdened by
people. I think about people all the
time. I want to pray for them, want to
help them. That might be a calling of
ministry. Man, every time I see people
running their own business, I always think I'd like to do my
own business. Well, what business would you
like to do? Some people are called to be
(24:18):
stay at home moms, stay at home dads.
It burns in their soul to be a stay at home.
And some people are. I mean, there's just a billion
things. But that being said, that's one
question. Got a few more but we are done
guys please share this like follow, leave a comment, let me
know what platform you're listening on share it on
(24:39):
Facebook, YouTube, send it to 20friends.
If you would do that it would mean the world to me.
I appreciate you click on the link in the Spotify link in the
video in the podcast description.
You can see how you can actuallysupport the podcast 10 bucks or
whatever a month I get I don't even know how that works.
I think it was set up before, but I shut it down because I
felt bad with people supporting it.
(24:59):
And then I realized as people talk to me that that was kind of
dumb and I think it's back. So let me know.
That being said, thanks so much for being a part of the Life
Hope Leadership Podcast. I hope you change your world
this week. You are listening to the Life,
Hope and Leadership Podcast withNick Shabrinsky.
A transparent, honest and encouraging podcast to equip you
(25:22):
through real life experiences.
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