difference between a burden and a calling

[Sister Alvear]

I read this thought I would share it with you all...

There is a vast difference between a burden and a calling to the mission field. A person with a burden will respond to a need and be emotionally involved in a particular cause. It usually lasts only for a season or until the person is confronted with an obstacle. He or she eventually fizzles out.
The one who has a calling not only has a burden, but there is a passion that goes with it. That passion never goes away even in the face of adversities and oppositions. He or she will literally go through hell to carry out the calling that is in his or her heart. Like Apostle Paul, the one with a calling will cry out, "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel." In the face of danger and even death, he or she will declare, "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."