Hi John! You bring to mind Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development where the last stage in old age can include a sense of integrity for a life well-lived, or of despair for possibly wasting your life and never finding a fulfilling sense of vocation.
Sometimes I ask my coaching clients, “Are you willing to waste your life for Christ?” In the eyes of mankind, we can fail miserably. Of course, I don’t believe we ever truly fail in Christ because we might never truly know the wonderful things that can come to glorify His Name out of our failures.
About 30 years ago, I received a prophecy that I had been called, but not sent. I’m still waiting to be sent, but in my adventure with Christ, I’m not just sitting around and waiting to be sent. I love that saying, “All who wander are not lost.”
Some of us never figure out what we want to be when we grow up. For us who don’t ever figure out our vocational calling, or have that BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious), can’t the journey be even more important and fulfilling than the destination?
Thanks, Mack. I'm struck by your phrase, "For us who don't ever figure out our vocational calling..." I've known several people who would describe themselves that way. That's part of what makes me skeptical about the idea of calling as we usually think about it. But more of that soon!
When I was a child, everyone described me as "creative." I drew and wrote and did improvs and made up stories and created things out of raw materials. I wanted to be an actress.
When I became a mother, family meant more to me than my career, so I stayed home and taught them for 28 years. In that time, I was able to practice creativity endlessly.
I never felt "called" to do a particular thing, but homeschooling seemed like the best way to serve my family at the time. Later, I had the unhappy vocation of taking care of my dying mother. Still later, I was called overseas to teach English and help family, and later, to move back to the US... to help family. "The call" for me has been to help those in need, and in obedience I find discomfort, challenges, rewards, intimacy with God, growth of my faith... and lots of opportunities to be creative!
I think there is too much emphasis in the church about finding your particular calling. That is too self-focused. If the nursery needs helpers, go help. The Good Samaritan didn't have a medical degree.
We shouldn't spend too much time figuring out who we are and what we were meant to do. Pray about it? Yes! Ask those who know us their opinions? yes! But it could be that God just wants us to obey His general commands, and as we do so, He will direct us onto a more specific path. Not for our own fulfillment, but for the good of the church and for His glory.
Thanks for your comment, Susan. These are helpful thoughts. I think you're right about a misplaced emphasis. It's ironic that the more we focus on our own fulfillment, the less fulfilled we seem to feel.
I cannot wait for these questions to be answered! :D
Hi John! You bring to mind Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development where the last stage in old age can include a sense of integrity for a life well-lived, or of despair for possibly wasting your life and never finding a fulfilling sense of vocation.
Sometimes I ask my coaching clients, “Are you willing to waste your life for Christ?” In the eyes of mankind, we can fail miserably. Of course, I don’t believe we ever truly fail in Christ because we might never truly know the wonderful things that can come to glorify His Name out of our failures.
About 30 years ago, I received a prophecy that I had been called, but not sent. I’m still waiting to be sent, but in my adventure with Christ, I’m not just sitting around and waiting to be sent. I love that saying, “All who wander are not lost.”
Some of us never figure out what we want to be when we grow up. For us who don’t ever figure out our vocational calling, or have that BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious), can’t the journey be even more important and fulfilling than the destination?
Thanks, Mack. I'm struck by your phrase, "For us who don't ever figure out our vocational calling..." I've known several people who would describe themselves that way. That's part of what makes me skeptical about the idea of calling as we usually think about it. But more of that soon!
When I was a child, everyone described me as "creative." I drew and wrote and did improvs and made up stories and created things out of raw materials. I wanted to be an actress.
When I became a mother, family meant more to me than my career, so I stayed home and taught them for 28 years. In that time, I was able to practice creativity endlessly.
I never felt "called" to do a particular thing, but homeschooling seemed like the best way to serve my family at the time. Later, I had the unhappy vocation of taking care of my dying mother. Still later, I was called overseas to teach English and help family, and later, to move back to the US... to help family. "The call" for me has been to help those in need, and in obedience I find discomfort, challenges, rewards, intimacy with God, growth of my faith... and lots of opportunities to be creative!
I think there is too much emphasis in the church about finding your particular calling. That is too self-focused. If the nursery needs helpers, go help. The Good Samaritan didn't have a medical degree.
We shouldn't spend too much time figuring out who we are and what we were meant to do. Pray about it? Yes! Ask those who know us their opinions? yes! But it could be that God just wants us to obey His general commands, and as we do so, He will direct us onto a more specific path. Not for our own fulfillment, but for the good of the church and for His glory.
Thanks for thinking and sharing, John!
Thanks for your comment, Susan. These are helpful thoughts. I think you're right about a misplaced emphasis. It's ironic that the more we focus on our own fulfillment, the less fulfilled we seem to feel.
You could do a class on this through our church...